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BULXOETJN  No.  8,  Experiments  with  Corn,  1889,  Is  bound  \rtth  this. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS, 

Agricultural  Experiment  Station, 

CHAMPAIGN,  NOVEMBER,  1889. 


BULLETIN  NO.  7. 


THE  BIOLOGY  OF  ENSILAGE. 

Experiment  No.  77. 

These  investigations  were  undertaken  with  the  hope  of  gaining  some 
new  information  concerning  the  changes,  due  to  fermentation,  which  take 
place  in  silos  filled  with  immature  Indian  corn  or  other  green  herbage. 
It  was  also  hoped  that  some  knowledge  could  be  acquired  in  regard  to 
the  conditions  under  which  the  various  processes  take  place,  to  the  end 
that  the  management  of  this  important  method  of  preserving  fodder 
might  be  brought  within  the  control  of  intelligent  action.  It  is  well  rec- 
ognized that  great  progress  has  been  made  in  this  matter  in  recent  times, 
by  practical  experiments  and  abundant  observations;  yet  all  this  has  been 
in  a  tentative,  empirical  way,  modified  only  by  the  general  facts  concern- 
ing fermentations  which  have  now  become  common  property.  Very  little 
has  been  done  in  our  country,  or  anywhere  else,  upon  the  side  of  scientific 
studies  of  the  observed  changes  in  ensilage,  though  in  other  arts,  notably 
brewing  and  wine- making,  such  studies  have  rendered  vital  service  to  im- 
portant industries.  In  fact  the  modern  views  in  regard  to  fermentations 
and  decompositions  of  organic  matter  have  been  revolutionary  in  thought 
and  often  in  practical  procedure,  modifying,  amending,  or  overturning 
former  ideas  and  methods.  In  multitudes  of  cases  operations  which  have 
been  empirically  performed  for  ages,  perhaps  in  clumsy  or  expensive  ways, 
have  not  only  become,  in  the  light  of  the  new  knowledge,  rational  pro- 
cedures, but  have  been  greatly  simplified  and  vastly  improved.  One  of 
the  oldest  arts  practiced  by  man,  or  rather  by  woman,  is  that  of  bread- 
making.  From  the  very  dawn  of  history,  yeast  has  been  employed  as  a 
ferment  in  moistened  flour:  it  was  the  leaven  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures. 
When  we  consider  the  long  ages  of  its  use,  in  one  of  the  most  common 
and  familiar  household  procedures,  it  must  seem  astonishing,  at  least  to 


178  BULLETIN  NO.  7.  [November, 

those  of  scientific  habits  of  thought,  that  a  rational  explanation  of  its 
effects  was  left  to  be  given  by  a  man  now  living,  one  who  is  still  doing 
preeminently  important  service  for  mankind,  and,  fortunately,  one  whose 
labors  are  fittingly  appreciated.  The  world  renowned  Pasteur,  of  Paris, 
achieved  his  first  great  success  as  an  investigator  in  his  studies  upon  yeast. 
It  is  only  during  the  last  half  of  our  century  that  science  has  rationally 
contributed  to  this  element  of  bread-making.  The  contribution,  how- 
ever, is  a  notable  one,  and  the  way  is  now  fairly  open  for  further  help  in 
the  same  directions;  for  it  can  now  be  clearly  understood  that  while  the 
factors  in  the  problem  are  known,  the  problem  itself  is  not  fully  solved. 
Wine-making  seems  to  be  as  old  an  art  as  bread-making,  and  the  same 
story  can  be  told  of  it  as  well  as  of  many  other  familiar  operations;  while 
some  entirely  new  industries  have  arisen  directly  based  upon  modern 
knowledge  of  fermentation.  Among  these  latter  are  to  be  placed  several 
prepared  foods  and  drinks  now  commonly  offered  for  sale.  Ensilage, 
though  recently  introduced,  does  not  appear  to  have  been  originally  sug- 
gested in  this  way.  It  came  into  use  just  as  sour-krout  was  made  many 
years  or  centuries  before,  from  common  experience  and  observation;  and 
both  are  now  where  this  practical  experience  has  brought  them,  if  indeed 
we  can  properly  speak  of  two  things  in  this  case;  for  the  main  differences 
between  ensilage  and  sour-krout  seem  to  be  that  one  is  made  from  corn 
or  clover,  the  other  from  cabbage;  one  is  usually  kept  in  large  bins,  the 
other  in  barrels.  But  we  shall  see  further  on  that  an  important  distinc- 
tion is  to  be  made. 

We  shall  be  better  able  to  understand  the  reasons  for,  and  the  results 
of,  the  special  investigations  upon  ensilage,  as  hereafter  described,  by  first 
considering  the  general  facts  in  regard  to  fermentation,  now  universally 
accepted  as  true  among  scientists.  In  the  first  place,  and  of  the  most 
importance,  it  must  be  unqualifiedly  assumed  that  all  degenerative  changes 
occurring  in  all  ordinary  organic  matter  are  due  to  the  action  of  living 
organisms,  which,  by  the  help  of  the  microscope,  and  other  apparatus, 
can  be  seen  and  studied  so  that  one  may  come  to  know  them  and  their 
liabits  of  life  as  well  as  larger  plants  and  animals  are  known.  This  is  a 
sweeping  generalization,  but  certainly  it  is  as  true  as  are  most  other  gen- 
eral statements.  To  illustrate:  when  meat  putrifies,  when  milk  sours, 
when  butter  becomes  rancid,  when  eggs  rot,  when  cider  gets  "  hard  "  or 
changes  into  vinegar,  when  manure  and  green  herbage  in  piles  heat,  when 
wood  decays,  when  water  containing  organic  matter  in  solution  becomes 
foul,  when  anything  ordinarily  known  spoils,  rots,  sours,  putrifies,  mil- 
dews, ferments,  molds,  we  may  be  absolutely  sure  that  the  changes  noted 
are  the  effects  of  some  living  things,  whether  or  not  they  are  discern- 
able  to  the  unaided  eye.  Organic  matter,  contrary  to  the  former  con- 
ception, has  within  itself  no  tendency  to  change  on  exposure  to  the  air. 
The  freshly  drawn  blood  of  an  animal  will  retain  indefinitely  its  original 
character  in  warm  summer  weather,  freely  exposed  to  the  air,  if  we  take  the 
precaution  to  keep  from  it  all  living  organisms,  and  we  now  know  how  this 


1889.]  BIOLOGY   OF   ENSILAGE.  ,        179 

maybe  easily  done.  The  process  of  preserving  fruits  and  meats  in  sealed 
cans  was  introduced  when  it  was  supposed  that  the  air  itself,  or  some 
part  of  it,  coupled  with  the  influence  of  heat,  was  the  destroying  agent. 
According  to  this  idea,  fruit  was  boiled  to  drive  out  the  air  it  contained, 
then  the  jar  into  which  the  hot  substance  was  put  was  hermetically  closed 
to  prevent  the  access  of  other  air.  The  process,  as  we  now  know,  hap- 
pened to  be  better  than  the  explanation.  The  facts  are:  the  material  is 
first  boiled  to  kill  all  living  organisms  adhering  thereto,  and  then  the  jar 
is  closed  to  keep  other  living  things  away  from  it.  Instead  of  the  air- 
tight sealing,  a  plug  of  cotton-wool,  through  which  the  air  freely  passes, 
may  be  used  with  equally  favorable  results,  because  this  acts  as  a  filter 
and  strains  out  all  floating  bodies,  large  and  small.  In  order,  however,  to 
make  this  experiment  successful,  the  cotton  itself  must  be  baked  to  kill 
every  thing  adhering  to  it,  and  the  vessel  must  have  enough  of  a  neck  to 
allow  the  sterilized  cotton  to  be  used  as  a  cork.  In  the  laboratory  where 
the  writer  does  most  of  his  work,  this  method  of  preserving,  for  days  and 
months,  even  for  years,  the  most  putrescible  substances  is  in  constant  and 
abundant  use,  with  uniformily  satisfactory  results.  It  is  the  usual  method 
now  in  all  biological  laboratories,  hence  a  matter  of  abundant  practical 
proof,  as  well  as  a  theoretical  truth. 

Secondly,  it  may  be  affirmed  that  different  kinds  of  micro-organisms 
act  special  roles,  each  after  its  kind.  It  is  quite  probable  that  no  two 
species,  and  there  are  multitudes  of  them,  living  upon  the  same  substances, 
produce  identical  results.  But,  however  this  may  be,  it  is  absolutely  cer- 
tain that  many  kinds  which  have  been  carefully  studied  have  peculiarly 
characteristic  physiological  properties  by  which  they  may  be  recognized 
without  resort  to  the  microscope.  Thus,  when  sugar  in  dilute  solution 
changes  into  alcohol  and  subsequently  the  aqueous  alcoholic  solution  is 
converted  into  vinegar,  we  may  be  positive  that  yeast  was  present  as  the 
active  agent  in  the  first  change,  and  that  another  well  known  but  quite 
different  organism  presided  at  the  second  transformation.  It  would  be 
going  much  too  far  to  assert  that  no  two  species  of  these  minute  workers 
have  physiological  similarities  or  identities;  or,  indeed,  that  one  may  not 
do  under  some  circumstances  just  what  another  does  under  some  other 
conditions.  They  certainly  have  much  in  common;  but,  in  numerous 
instances,  at  least,  a  species  has  strikingly  uniform  activities  under  given 
conditions,  and  these  are  peculiar  to  itself  under  these  same  conditions. 
The  same  things,  however,  may  give  different  results  when  the  condi- 
tions are  different;  as  when  the  nutrient  medium  contains  different  ele- 
ments, or  when  this  does  or  does  not  contain  free  oxygen.  Yeast  may 
grow  upon  the  surface  of  sv/eetened  water  and  form  no  alcohol,  but  reduce 
the  sugar  at  once  to  carbonic  acid  and  water;  when  it  is  submerged  and 
other  things  remain  the  same,  alcohol  is  produced.  As  a  rule,  however, 
we  may  say  that  different  chemical  changes  are  brought  about  by  differ- 
ent organisms;  exceptions  are  known,  but  they  are  exceptions  rather  than 
contradictions. 


180  BULLETIN  NO.  7.  \_NoTenber, 

Again,  thirdly,  these  silent  but  potent  and  ubiquitous  agents  of  fer- 
mentation and  putrefaction  are  minute  plants.  It  is  readily  comprehen- 
sible that  all  living  things  are  either  plants  or  animals.  Everything  that 
absorbs  nutriment,  grows,  and  reproduces  its  kind  must  have  life,  hence 
must  be  either  a  plant  or  an  animal.  There  are  indeed  some  small  ani- 
mals which  cause  ferment-like  or  rot-like  processes,  but  we  may  neglect 
these  entirely  and  say  that  all  the  usual  changes  of  this  kind  in  dead  or- 
ganic matter  have  as  their  producing  cause  living  plants  of  very  simple 
structure,  and,  for  the  most  part,  microscopical  dimensions.  These  lowly 
organized  members  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  are  subject  to  the  same  laws 
of  existence  and  reproduction  as  the  higher  plants.  There  is  no  such 
thing  as  spontaneous  generation  for  the  one  more  than  for  the  other.  The 
ferment  workers  spring  only  from  parent  individuals.  Molds,  for  instance, 
do  not  originate  in  moist  bread,  but  simply  grow  from  seed-like  germs, 
produced  by  preceeding  molds  of  the  same  kind.  That  which  sours  milk 
no  more  arises  from  the  milk  than  seed  potatoes  are  transformations  of 
soil.  The  only  reason  why  the  ferment  organisms  seem  somehow  to  arise 
from  the  substance  of  the  fermenting  material  is  because  they  are  so  small 
and  may  so  readily  be  carried  by  currents  or  air,  etc. 

Lastly,  these  minute  plants  may  be  said  to  belong  to  three  principal 
groups,  which  for  our  purpose  may  be  called  (i)  yeasts,  (2)  bacteria,  and 
(3)  fungi.  Of  the  first  there  are  comparatively  few  well  recognized  species, 
although  it  must  be  well  understood  that  all  yeasts  are  by  no  means  alike 
in  exact  appearance  or  physiological  effect.  One  that  we  shall  have 
specially  to  deal  with  is  widely  different  in  the  latter  sense  from  that  com- 
monly employed  in  bread-  and  beer-making.  Alcohol  is  the  almost  unique 
and  very  characteristic  product  of  these  plants.  The  second  group  in- 
cludes a  vast  number  of  kinds,  varying  much  in  appearance  and  still 
more  in  function.  They  are  preeminently  the  change-workers  in  the  sub- 
stance of  plants  and  animals,  livingand  dead.  Some  are  "  disease  germs; " 
others  are  harmless  or  even  beneficial  to  living  things,  but  are  active 
destroyers  of  dead  bodies;  some  produce  fermentations  desired  by  men; 
others  are  his  enemies  from  every  ordinary  point  of  view.  Our  silos  teem 
with  various  kinds  of  these  effective  creatures.  The  third  group  is  like- 
wise immense  numerically  and  the  individuals  are  wondrously  diversified. 
Mushrooms,  toadstools,  molds,  rusts,  smuts,  mildews,  etc.,  are  examples. 
We  shall  have  to  do  only  with  molds,  but  even  in  this  subdivision  the 
species  are  amazingly  numerous  and  the  characteristics  widely  diverse. 
They  may  be  termed  rot  or  decay  agents,  and  in  the  silo  are  always  late 
in  appearance  and  terminal  in  order  of  effect. 

OPPORTUNITIES  FOR  STUDY  AND  METHODS  PURSUED. 

The  investigations  were  begun  in  September,  1888.  This  is  written 
January  2,  1890. 

In  1888-89  two  s^os  upon  the  University  farms  were  carefully  exam- 
ined when  the  ensilage  was  in  different  states,  at  successive  intervals 


7889.]  BIOLOGY    OF    ENSILAGE.  l8l 

during  six  months,  beginning  a  few  days  after  filling.  One  of  the  silos 
was  burned  in  September,  1889;  the  other  has  again  been  studied  as 
hereafter  detailed.  Studies  were  also  made  upon  material  secured  from 
Mr.  H.  K.  Vickroy,  Normal,  111.,  and  from  Mr.  H.  B.  Gurler,  DeKalb, 
111.,  dated  respectively  May  17,  1889,  and  July  29,  1889.  This  in  both 
cases  was  well  preserved  corn  ensilage  of  the  preceding  season. 

June  18,  1889,  four  alcohol  or  oil  barrels  were  closely  packed  with 
green  wheat,  cut  when  the  grain  was  in  the  dough.  The  straw  was  cut 
into  half-inch  lengths  and  at  once  placed  in  the  barrels  and  pounded 
down.  After  the  barrels  had  been  filled  as  full  as  possible,  the  heads  were 
replaced  and  the  iron  hoops  driven  on,  thus  inclosing  the  material  in  a 
practically  air-tight  receptacle.  The  barrels  were  then  packed  in  dry 
straw  in  the  entry  compartment  of  a  wooden  silo.  A  glass  tube  two- 
thirds  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  closed  at  its  lower  end,  was  inserted  by 
means  of  a  rubber  cork  through  the  bung  of  each  barrel  and  pushed  down 
to  the  center  of  the  enclosed  wheat.  A  thermometer  was  placed  in  the 
tube,  and  the  latter  corked  at  its  upper  end.  It  is  well  known  that  glass 
is  a  very  poor  conductor  of  heat;  the  outer,  exposed  end  of  this  tube 
would  remain  cool,  whatever  the  temperature  inside,  while  the  thermom- 
eter in  its  lower  end  would  stand  at  very  nearly  the  temperature  of  the 
surrounding  mass.  A  method  was  thus  provided  for  knowing  the  temper- 
ature of  the  fermenting  material  without  opening  the  barrel  to  the  air  or 
exposing  its  contents  to  modifications  in  the  process  of  examination.  The 
thick  bed  of  dry  straw  outside  the  barrels  was  intended  to  prevent  the 
escape  of  heat  from  the  comparatively  small  masses  of  material.  At  a 
later  date,  September  10, 1889,  the  same  method  was  tried  with  corn,  and, 
we  shall  see,  with  similar  results. 

>  July  13,  1889,  mixed  clover  and  timothy  grass,  with  the  former  pre- 
dominating, was  cut  and  very  closely  packed  in  a  wooden  box,  2^  x  3^  x  6 
feet.  This  was  covered  with  boards  and  well  weighted.  In  all  these  cases 
careful  observations  were  made  upon  the  temperature  attained  and  the 
changes  taking  place.  The  barrels  were  opened  one  at  a  time  at  intervals 
of  some  days  or  weeks. 

In  the  laboratory,  we  made  use  of  one-gallon  stone  jars  of  cylindrical 
shape,  fitted  with  wooden  covers  on  which  heavy  weights  were  placed; 
also  two-quart  "globe"  fruit  jars  with  rubber  ring  and  glass  top.  These 
vessels  were  solidly  packed  with  finely  cut  corn  in  different  stages  of  ma- 
turity and  were  kept  in  incubators  ranging  in  temperature  from  21°  C.  to 
55°  C.  (70°  to  131°  F.).  In  some  of  these  jars  certain  proportions  of  water 
and  in  some  cases  commercial  yeast  or  fermented  ensilage  in  varying  quan- 
tities were  added.  These  small  receptacles  were  used  in  considerable 
number — twenty-five  to  thirty  at  one  time — and  offered  the  opportunity  of 
testing  many  different  conditions,  while  the  temperatures  maintained  by  the 
incubators  fairly  represented  the  influence  of  large  masses  of  material. 

In  all  cases,  besides  the  direct  examination  of  the  fermenting  material 
by  the  aid  of  the  microscope  and  otherwise,  resort  has  been  had  to  the 


182  BULLETIN   NO.  7.  \Novcmber ^ 

modern  methods  of  bacteriological  cultivations  in  test  tubes  and  plates 
with  various  liquid  and  solid  nutrient  media.  A  large  number  of  perma- 
nent microscopical  slides  have  been  preserved,  and  the  full  original  notes 
are  retained  in  the  laboratory. 

In  connection  with  the  microscopical  and  biological  observations, 
chemical  analyses  were  made  by  Albert  G.  Manns,  Ph.  D.,  in  charge  of 
the  chemical  laboratory  of  the  Experiment  Station.  The  general  results 
of  this  part  of  the  work  are  presented  on  pp.  190-193,  as  submitted  by  the 
author,  to  whom  the  writer  is  under  many  obligations  for  suggestions  and 
aid  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work. 

RESULTS  OBTAINED. 

The  words,  sweet  and  sour,  as  applied  to  ensilage  are  now  commonly 
used,  and  much  is  made  of  the  wide  practical  difference  in  the  states  of 
the  material  so  designated.  Formerly,  it  is  often  said,  nearly  all  attempts 
to  preserve  fodder  in  this  way  gave  only  the  sour  quality;  but  with  the 
recent  improvements  in  the  silo  itself,  and  especially  in  the  management 
of  the  material,  it  is  claimed  that  sweet  ensilage  is  obtained.  These  two 
states  are  popularly  associated  with,  respectively,  the  alcoholic  and  the 
acetic  fermentations.  In  French,  English,  and  American  literature  these 
two  kinds  of  fermentation  are  uniformly  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  so-called  sweet  and  sour  states  of  ensilage  in  all  cases  where  the 
writer  has  seen  any  mention  at  all  of  the  kinds  of  changes  occurring.  In 
addition,  the  butyric  fermentation  is  frequently  alluded  to  as  an  ultimate 
spoiled  condition  of  the  substance,  associated  perhaps  with  mold,  which 
is  for  the  most  part  referred  to  Penicillium,  the  common  blue  mold  of 
damp  bread,  cheese,  etc.  As  the  alcoholic  fermentation  is  known  to  be 
due  to  yeast,  this  living  agent  is  not  unfrequently  spoken  of,  as,  at  least, 
the  possible  cause  of  the  internal  change  which  results  in  <:  sweet "  ensil- 
age. The  actual  presence  of  a  yeast  species  in  silos,  reported  in  bulletin 
No.  2,  page  22,  of  this  Experiment  Station,  and  mentioned  by  Mr.  H.  L. 
Russell,  of  Madison,  Wis.  (Agricultural  Science,  May,  1889),  gave  added 
probability  that  the  desirable  ferment  in  this  case  was  indeed  an  alcoholic 
one.  Such  was  the  supposition  in  mind  when  these  inquiries  were  first 
made,  and  with  this  in  view  some  of  the  laboratory  experiments  hereto- 
fore described,  were  made  by  adding  certain  definite'  quantities  of  tested 
kinds  of  commercial  yeast  with  a  view  of  more  certainly  starting  alco- 
holic rather  than  some  other  ferment  from  the  "germs"  naturally  occur- 
ring in  the  material.  If  wheaten  dough  may  be  made  to  undergo  alco- 
holic fermentation  by  the  use  of  yeast,  it  was  presumed  that  the  same 
management  might  be  useful  with  ensilage,  a  presumption  which  we  shall 
see  was  not  well  founded  in  fact. 

The  process  for  making  "  sweet "  ensilage  recommended  by  Fry  and 
by  Voelker  in  England  and  by  Miles  in  our  country,  is  to  fill  so  slowly  that 
the  mass  by  sufficient  exposure  to  the  air  may  become,  to  begin  with, 
very  hot,  in  order,  it  is  thought,  to  kill  the  included  "  germs  "  of  the  acid 


1889.]  BIOLOGY    OF    ENSILAGE.  183 

ferments.  Practical  experience  had  shown  that  this  method  did  often 
give  excellent  results,  but  also  that  quick  filling  was  frequently  as  satis- 
factory. No  intelligent  explanation  seems  to  have  been  offered  for  thi3 
last  result,  and  little  or  no  further  knowledge  seems  to  have  been  ascer- 
tained from  scientific  inquiry  at  the  time  when  the  writer  began  his  work. 
It  is  not  proposed  in  this  paper  to  give  the  details  of  separate  exper- 
iments or  observations,  partly  because  to  most  readers  they  would  be  of 
comparatively  little  value;  but  also  because  we  do  not  feel  competent  to 
write  up  anything  like  a  complete  account  of  the  biology  of  ensilage. 
The  work  so  far  has  been  interesting  and  instructive  to  those  engaged  in 
it;  but  a  considerable  part  of  the  knowledge  attained  is  negative  in  char- 
acter, like  that  upon  the  agency  of  yeast,  just  noted.  The  statements 
made  in  what  follows  must  be  understood  to  be  the  expression  of  apparent 
results  rather  than  positive  and  fully  demonstrated  conclusions.  They 
are  made  in  very  general  form  and  with  no  intention  of  following  the  order 
of  the  experiments  themselves. 

1.  The  fermentation  of  ensilage  is  an  exceedingly  complex  problem. 
It  very  rarely  happens,  if,  indeed,  it  ever  does  occur,  that  a  single  kind  of 
chemical  change,  due  to  a  single  species  of  living  organism,  takes  place 
without  the  association  of  one  or  more  similar  concurrent  changes  in  the 
same  mass  due  to  other  species  of  active  agents.     This  complexity  of  fer- 
mentive  action  is  no  doubt  due  in  part  to  the  various  chemical  substances 
included  in  the  fermenting  material.     If  the  action  was  confined  to  the 
sugar  of  the  plant,  or  to  the  starch,  or  to  some  one  nitrogeneous  substance, 
we  doubtless  should  have  very  different  results.     Other  complexities  arise 
from  the  various  modifications  of  conditions,  as  the  states  of  the  mate- 
rial when  used,  the  character  of  the  weather  at  the  time  and  immediately 
preceding,  the  size  of  the  mass,  and  the  construction  of  the  silo. 

2.  Ensilage  is  not,  properly  speaking,  a  preserved  product.     Fermen- 
tations and  decompositions  continually  take  place  from  the  time  of  stor- 
age until  the  material  is  removed  from  the  silo.     These  changes  are  widely 
different  in  kind  and  rapidity  in  different  cases,  and  vary  greatly  in  regard 
to  the  ultimate  product  as  a  material  for  food. 

3.  Alcoholic  fermentation  has  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  ensilage. 
Yeast  is  at  no  time  found  in  the  silo  as  a  producer  of   alcohol.     The 
species  which  does  occur,  often  in  considerable  quantity,  is  Saccharomyces 
mycoderma,  Rees,  or  Mycoderma  vini,  of  Pasteur.     This  under  usual  cir- 
cumstances does  not  produce  alcohol  at  all,  though  it  does  have  that 
function  to  a  limited  extent  under  special  conditions   not  known  to  be 
offered  in  the  silo.     It  is  the  species  which  is  so  often  found  on  the  sur- 
face of  vinegar,  and  especially  of  that  in  which  cucumber  and  other  pickles 
are  kept,  as  well  as  on  the  juices  of  fruits  of  many  kinds.     Housekeepers 
frequently  meet  with  it  on  boiled  beets  immersed  in  vinegar.     In  the  silo 
it  appears  only  after  acetic  fermentation  occurs,  and  then  is  often  found 
in  quantity  upon  the  exposed  surface  of  the  sour  material.     If  a  little  acid 
ensilage  is  placed  in  a  glass  or  tin  vessel  where  it  will  be  kept  moist  for  a 


J84  BULLETIN  NO.  7.  [November, 

few  days  at  the  ordinary  temperature  of  an  occupied  room,  this  white 
effloresence  will  be  pretty  sure  to  make  its  appearance  on  the  surface  of 
the  cut  stalks,  etc.  Its  effect  is  to  reduce  the  acid  to  compounds  of  lower 
grade,  mainly  to  carbonice  acid  and  water. 

Alcohol  is  sometimes  produced  by  other  organisms  than  yeast;  but 
if  it  occur  in  the  silo,  the  product  is  quite  certainly  not  ethyl  alcohol — 
the  compound  that  in  common  usage  the  name  alcohol  is  used  to  desig- 
nate— but  butyl  alcohol,  or  some  allied  form.  It  is  a  product  of  fermen- 
tation due  to  bacteria,  if  it  really  exist,  as  to  which  there  are  grave 
doubts. 

It  cannot,  therefore,  be  said  that  the  so-called  "sweet"  ensilage  is 
the  result  of  an  alcoholic  fermentation.  In  the  laboratory  experiments 
previously  mentioned  in  which  yeast  was  added  to  the  fresh  material,  no 
alcoholic  fermentation  ensued,  though  the  conditions  were  made  in  the 
several  tests  considerably  different  and  in  some  of  them,  certainly,  favor- 
able to  the  action  of  yeast.  Undoubtedly,  in  at  least  some  of  the  trials, 
alcohol  would  have  been  formed,  if  sufficient  water  had  been  added  to 
submerge  the  mass;  but'this  would  not  have  been  a  close  imitation  of  the 
conditions  in  an  ordinary  silo.  In  one  case  some  clean  acid  ensilage, 
just  taken  from  the  central  mass  of  the  farm  silo,  was  placed  in  a  glass 
receiver  and  allowed  to  stand  a  few  days  until  there  appeared  a  consider- 
able growth  of  mycoderma  yeast;  then  the  vessel  was  filled  with  water 
and  the  escaping  gas  collected.  This  proved  to  be  carbonic  acid.  No 
alcohol  was  subsequently  found  in  the  water.  No  alcohol  was  found  by 
Dr.  Manns  in  any  of  his  analyses. 

We  may  be  further  assured  that  the  hot  fermentation  which  often 
takes  place  soon  after  the  silo  is  filled,  and  which  has  been  assumed  by 
some  to  be  necessary  for  "  sweet  "  ensilage,  is  not  due  to  yeast,  because 
no  species  of  this  class  of  organisms  can  retain  its  activity  at  anything 
like  the  temperature  attained.  The  best  temperature  for  brewers'  yeast 
is  from  25°  to  30°  C.  (78°  to  86°  F.),  while  60°  C.  (140°  F.)  and  above,  is 
not  uncommon  for  the  hot  ensilage.  Above  30°  C.,  yeast  loses  its  power 
of  growth  and  development  in  an  accelerating  ratio  as  the  heat  increases. 
It  is  true  that  in  some  liquids  its  life  is  not  destroyed  until  the  tempera- 
ture is  raised  for  a  short  time  above  55°  C.,  but  under  most  circumstances 
this  degree  of  heat  is  entirely  destructive  to  its  vitality,  while  a  much 
lower  temperature  prevents  its  physiological  functions.  It  is  plain  that  a 
body  cannot  be  raised  to  a  higher  temperature  through  the  process  of  fer- 
mentation than  the  organism  causing  such  fermentation  is  capable  of 
enduring.  There  seems,  indeed,  to  be  no  reason  for  supposing  that  the 
heat  should  be  greater  than  that  under  which  the  organism  finds  its  best 
development;  because  above  this  point,  the  action  is  retarded,  hence  less 
heat  is  produced.  Heat  in  such  cases  is  not  stored  so  as  to  raise  the 
degree  above  the  temperature  of  the  operating  cause.  The  initial  heat 
production  must  be  as  high  as  the  temperature  of  the  mass  ever  becomes. 
This  effectually  disposes  of  the  yeast  question  in  the  hot  silo. 


1889.]  BIOLOGY    OF    ENSILAGE.  185 

4.  The  term  "sweet"  as  applied  to  ensilage,  is  only  applicable  in  the 
sense  of  the  absence  of  acid  produced  by  fermentation.  Corn  stalks,  as 
cut  for  this  purpose,  do  contain  a  considerable  amount  of  sugar,  but  there 
is  also  present  in  the  fresh  material  a  considerable  amount  of  acid.  This 
proportion  of  acidity  appears  never  to  decrease  in  any  of  the  fermentive 
changes,  while  the  sugar  soon  undergoes  a  series  of  conversions  by  which 
various  acids  are  produced.  What  commonly  passes  for  sweet  ensilage  is 
by  no  means  always  the  same  thing;  for,  besides  varying  much  in  degree 
of  acidity,  it  also  differs  in  regard  to  the  kind  of  changes  which  have 
taken  place.  When  slow  filling  and  consequent  high  temperature  is  relied 
upon,  the  resulting  product  is  in  a  widely  different  state  as  to  fermentive 
changes  from  that  so-called  sweet  ensilage  obtained  without  heat.  There 
is  much  less  loss  through  fermentation  in  the  latter  case.  By  the  process 
of  rapid  filling  and  close  packing  with  more  mature  corn,  the  mass  remains 
sweet  simply  because  little  fermentation  of  any  kind  follows.  It  appears 
from  our  tests  that  in  this  case  the  first  change  that  does  take  place  is  a 
conversion  of  the  sugar  into  lactic  and  acetic  acid,  and,  with  less  cer- 
tainty, first  into  the  former  then  this  into  the  latter.  In  our  experiments 
with  green  wheat  and  corn  in  barrels  the  material  was  found  after  six 
weeks  to  two  months  from  date  of  filling,  in  the  very  best  condition.  The 
temperature  of  the  mass  had  at  no  time  been  appreciably  above  that  of 
the  surroundings.  There  had  been  very  little  fermentation,  though  more 
in  the  case  of  the  wheat  than  of  the  corn.  Especially  true  of  the  latter, 
the  color  of  the  green  parts  was  little  changed,  while  the  grain  remained 
very  nearly  as  when  it  was  stored  away.  From  the  wheat  the  lactic  ferment 
organism  was  easily  isolated,  indeed  appeared  to  be  the  only  one  which 
had  multiplied  to  any  recognizable  extent.  The  same  microbe  was  found 
in  fairly  considerable  numbers  in  the  corn,  but  more  commonly  associated 
with  that  of  the  acetic  fermentation.  The  multiplication  of  these  organ- 
isms had  been  very  slow,  so  that,  as  just  stated,  their  action  upon  the 
material  was  scarcely  noticeable,  and  certainly  not  sufficient  to  make  the 
mass  essentially  different  for  fodder  from  the  fresh  substances.  It  is,  how- 
ever, important  to  notice  that  in  these  cases  the  acid  ferments  were  pres- 
ent, and  some  degree  of  activity  had  been  produced.  Furthermore,  these 
results  entirely  agree  with  those  obtained  in  the  laboratory  with  a  large 
number  of  experiments,  using  fruit  jars  as  the  storage  vessels.  Some  of 
these  latter,  kept  throughout  the  time  on  a  high  shelf  in  a  steam  heated 
room,  were  opened  after  two  to  sixteen  months  and  found  to  contain  very 
satisfactory,  though  certainly  not  really  sweet  ensilage.  They  were  usu- 
ally still  hermetically  sealed  with  the  rubber  ring  at  the  latter  date,  and  in 
some  cases  there  was  a  distinct  escape  of  gas  when  opened.  In  testing 
that  in  which  there  was  the  most  evidence  of  acidity,  it  was  found  that  the 
acid  was  almost  wholly  volatile,  and  this,  together  with  the  observed  pres- 
ence of  the  acetic  ferment,  fairly  determined  the  kind  of  acid  then  present. 

The  other  barrels  with  wheat  were  unfortunately  burned  September  4, 
1889,  so  that  we  had  no  further  opportunity  to  study  their  contents.  But 


i So  BULLETIN  NO.  7.  \Novembcr, 

on  opening  December  i7th  one  packed  with  corn  September  loth,  the 
material  was  found  to  be  exceedingly  sour.  During  all  this  time  there 
had  been  no  noticeable  rise  in  temperature  due  to  fermentation,  but  that 
there  had  been  a  very  large  quantity  of  acetic  acid  developed  did  not 
admit  of  doubt.  Examination  showed  no  lactic  ferment  organism  pres- 
ent, while  the  acetic  ferment  was  excessively  abundant,  so  that  pure  cul- 
tures could  easily  be  made.  Upon  transferring  a  "  seeding  "  of  this  last  to 
test  tubes  of  beef  broth,  which  had  been  carefully  neutralized, at  was  inter- 
esting to  note  that  within  twenty-four  hours  the  medium  became  so  dis- 
tinctly acid  that  litmus  paper  was  conspicuously  affected.  On  heating  in 
a  water-bath  during  some  hours,  the  acid  mostly  escaped,  proving  its 
volatile  character. 

With  these  results  before  us,  tests  were  carefully  made  of  material 
taken  with  antiseptic  precaution  from  the  silo.  In  all  cases  after  the 
material  had  become  distinctly  sour,  the  acetic  ferment  was  found,  and  in 
no  case  was  the  lactic  ferment  organism  obtained  from  ensilage  several 
months  old.  We  were  never  fortunate  enough,  however,  to  get  directly 
pure  cultures  of  anything  from  any  silo  except  when  the  trials  were  made 
from  very  hot  material,  not  long  subsequent  to  the  filling.  It  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  isolate  the  acetic  ferment  from  mixtures  by  bacteriological  methods, 
but  it  seems  pretty  certain  that  the  ferment  does  not  usually  occur  in  a 
state  of  purity  in  any  ensilage  as  practically  made;  neither  is  the  admixture 
likely  to  be  of  any  special  kind  or  kinds  save  in  a  very  general  sense.  The 
product  cannot,  therefore,  be  a  uniform  one  either  in  the  same  silo  at  dif- 
ferent times  or  in  different  silos  under  varying  conditions  of  the  material 
or  surroundings.  It  is,  however,  altogether  possible  that  this  want  of 
sameness  may  not  seriously  affect  the  practical  value  of  the  fodder  when 
the  best  known  methods  are  used  in  the  construction  of  the  bins  and  in 
storing  the  material. 

Turning  now  to  the  case  when  the  temperature  rises  within  a  few  days 
after  filling  to  above  50°  C.  (122°  F.),  we  must  tell  quite  a  different  story. 
It  must  be  true  that,  whatever  the  degree  of  heat  attained,  the  organisms 
producing  the  changes  by  which  this  heat  is  generated  are  capable  of 
withstanding  the  temperature  recorded  by  the  thermometers.  It  is  rare 
that  any  living  thing  can  continue  to  develop  above  the  temperature 
named,  though  it  does  not  follow  that  seeds  or  spores  will  be  killed  by 
long  exposure  to  this  unfavorable  condition.  Neither  lactic  nor  acetic 
ferments,  as  recognized  above,  can  grow  in  any  known  medium  above 
47°  C.  (117°  F.).  The  most  favorable  temperature  for  the  former  seems 
to  be  about  38°  C.  (100°  F.),  and  for  the  latter  not  above  33°  C.  (90°  F.). 
Now,  as  we  have  stated,  the  temperature  usually  rises  in  slowly  filled  silos 
to  55°  C.  or  60°  C.,  and  our  records  show  in  one  case  the  maximum  of 
70°  C.  (158°  F.).  The  lowest  of  these  degrees  is  very  commonly  reached, 
and  the  second  cannot  be  considered  in  the  least  abnormal.  Here,  then, 
it  is  easy  to  see  no  formation  of  acetic  or  lactic  acid  can  occur  during  the 
hot  stage,  and  abundant  examination  teaches  the  same  thing.  It  should 


1889.]  BIOLOGY    OF    ENSILAGE.  187 

be  stated,  however,  that  it  is  not  certain  that  this  high  temperature  does 
kill  the  "  germs  "  of  these  ferments,  as  is  so  commonly  asserted.  Indeed 
there  is  a  good  deal  of  evidence  that  sterilization  in  this  respect  is  not 
effected,  because  these  acid  ferments  are  found  distributed  throughout  the 
mass  as  soon  as  the  temperature  has  fallen  sufficiently.  There  is  no  ap- 
parent evidence  that  the  organisms  must  first  gain  access  from  without 
before  development  in  great  numbers  takes  place.  The  warm  undisturbed 
mass,  three,  or  four,  or  more  feet  from  the  surface  is  sure  to  have  the  acetic 
fermentation  in  greater  or  less  amount  in  active  operation  within  a  few 
days  after  the  temperature  becomes  suitable  to  the  growth  of  the  organ- 
ism. Whether  lactic  fermentation  also  regularly  occurs  in  the  same  way 
has  not  been  made  out,  though  it  is  probable  that  some  non-volatile  acid 
is  thus  produced. 

Why,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  does  ensilage  ever  retain  the  so-called 
sweet  condition  during  some  months  after  the  heat  subsides  to  33°  C.  or 
below?  The  reply  to  this  is  sufficiently  given  in  the  well  known  character 
of  the  acetic  and  lactic  ferments  in  regard  to  the  free  oxygen  of  the  air. 
Both  organisms  belong  to  the  class  called  aerobic — a  term  applied  to 
those  incapable  of  growing  except  in  the  presence  of  free  oxygen.  In 
vinegar-making,  this  characteristic  is  often  met  by  causing  the  fermentable 
liquid  to  trickle  down  through  a  quantity  of  beech-wood  shavings,  or  a 
substitute  of  similar  kind.  In  this  way.  the  conversion  into  vinegar 
(acetic  acid)  is  very  rapid  when  the  most  favorable  temperature  is  main- 
tained. When  the  same  liquid  is  kept  in  a  tight  barrel,  the  change  to  vine- 
gar is  very  slow,  if  it  occur  at  all.  It  is  evidently  the  exclusion  of  the  air, 
after  the  preliminary  fermentation  attended  with  high  heat,  which  pre- 
vents the  acidification  of  the  compressed  mass,  and  not  the  destruction  of 
ferment  "germs."  As,  however,  the  air  does  slowly  penetrate  the  cooling 
ensilage,  acidification  does  occur,  and,  other  things  being  equal,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  facility  with  which  the  air  is  admitted.  But  the  prelimi- 
nary heating  tends  to  make  the  mass  settle  together,  as  every  one  knows 
who  has  observed  the  sinking  of  the  surface  during  the  time,  thus  exclud- 
ing air  and  preventing  its  subsequent  penetration  in  sufficient  amount  for 
the  rapid  development  of  the  acetic  ferment. 

5.  If  we  now  undertake  the  explanation  of  the  hot  fermentation,  we 
have  at  the  same  time  the  least  understood,  and,  to  the  biologist,  the  most 
interesting  part  of  the  subject.  It  has  been  stated  that  plant  life  is  rarely 
capable  of  retaining  its  activities  above  50°  C.  (122°  F.).  This  is  just 
as  true  of  the  lower  as  of  the  higher  forms  of  vegetation,  except  in  pecu- 
liar instances,  yet  here  we  have  the  production  of  heat  running  up  to 
70°  C.  through  the  vital  functions  of  low  plants,  a  most  remarkable  phe- 
nomenon. If  we  may  trust  the  observations  which  are  reported  by  scien- 
tific travelers,  green  algae,  low  forms  of  plants  forming  silky  or  slimy 
nasses  in  water,  are  found  living  in  certain  hot  springs  having  a  tempera- 
ure  still  higher  than  the  degree  just  stated.  But  there  is  much  uncer- 
tainty as  to  the  trustworthiness  of  the  observations.  If  they  should  prove 


i88  BULLETIN  NO.  7.  [November, 

untrue,  then  a  few  species  of  bacteria  stand  alone  in  the  vegetable  king- 
dom in  their  ability  to  withstand  degrees  of  temperature  much  above  50° 
C.  without  having  their  vital  activities  arrested.  None  of  these  are  known 
to  continue  their  development  at  temperatures  higher  than  have  been 
noted  in  silos.  Examination,  however,  proves  that  there  are  at  least  two 
species,  and  probably  more,  which  do  thrive  in  newly  filled  silos  at  tem- 
peratures varying  from  60°  C.  to  70°  C. 

There  is  much  confusion  in  the  specific  determinations  of  Bacilli 
which  have  been  credited  with  the  production  of  butyric,  succinic,  valeric, 
and  similar  acids.  The  names  Bacillus  butyricus,  Bacillus  amylobacter, 
and  Clostridium  butyricum  have  been  variously  applied  to  the  same  and 
to  different  species.  Even  Bacillus  subtilis  has  been  confused  with  these 
allied  but  clearly  distinct  kinds.  The  organisms  found  in  the  hot,  ferment- 
ing ensilage,  and  in  equally  hot  manure  piles,  are  anaerobic;  that  is,  they 
do  not  need  free  oxygen  for  their  life  functions,  though  they  seem  never 
to  cause  the  very  high  temperature  without  a  partial  supply  of  this  sub- 
stance. In  liquid  cultures  they  form  little  or  no  films  upon  the  surface, 
but  do  make  a  turbid,  at  length  muddy,  and  characteristic  growth  in  the 
liquid  itself.  They  do  not  successfully  grow  on  the  surface  of  solid  media, 
hence  cannot  be  easily  separated  when  mixed  in  culture.  For  this  reason, 
among  others,  our  studies  upon  them  have  not  been  so  satisfactory  as  in 
other  cases.  One  of  the  species  almost  constantly  found  in  the  very  hot 
ensilage  forms  an  elliptically  shaped  spore  in  one  end  of  a  rod-like  joint. 
The  joints  very  freely  separate,  so  that  long  filaments  are  not  usually 
found;  but  when  the  spore-forming  joints  do  remain  attached,  the  spore 
seems  to  be  always  produced  in  the  same  end,  causing  the  club-shaped 
segments  to  be  in  the  same  direction  in  the  filament.  The  spore-produc- 
ing end  is  about  twice  the  diameter  of  the  vegetating  rod.  In  a  few  cases 
such  jointed  filaments  were  found  with  a  spore  in  alternate  segments  with 
a  short,  cylindrical,  sterile  joint  intervening.  Another  species,  also  rod- 
like,  much  like  the  preceding,  is  very  often  found  with  it  in  the  hot  mater- 
ial. But  in  this  second  form  the  spores,  somewhat  smaller  than  the  others, 
are  formed  in  the  middle  of  the  cell  or  joint,  which  is  not  swollen  so  much 
as  in  the  other  case.  The  culture-characteristics  of  the  two  kinds  are  very 
similar;  and,  as  before  said,  it  is  difficult  to  separate  them  when  mixed.  It 
is  likely  that  more  than  two  species  commonly  occur  in  this  hot  stage, 
but  nothing  definite  has  been  ascertained  beyond  what  has  been  stated. 

It  is  certainly  contrary  to  all  published  accounts  that  butyric  fermen- 
tation and  its  allies  are  first  in  order  of  time  in  the  silo;  but,  notwith- 
standing the  apparent  evidence  in  opposition,  the  facts  heretofore  detailed 
seem  strongly  to  support  this  idea.  We  now  know  that  this  early  fermen- 
tation, with  the  evolution  of  high  degrees  of  heat,  is  not  alcoholic;  neither 
is  it  anything  similar  to  acetic  fermentation.  It  is  not  an  ammoniacal 
change,  but  in  all  other  particulars  it  is  the  same  as  that  taking  place  in 
hot  stable  manure.  The  organisms  just  described  are  also  found  in  pro- 
digious numbers  in  this  last  material.  Culture  tests  show  them  to  be  the 


1889.]  .  BIOLOGY    OF    ENSILAGE.  189 

same  species.  This  may  not  be  compatible  with  the  prevalent  notions  in 
regard  to  "sweet"  ensilage,  but  it  evidently  expresses  a  fact  which  must 
be  of  importance  in  the  practical  management  of  the  silo.  In  hot  stable 
manure,  the  cellulose  or  woody  substance  of  the  material  is  attacked  and 
more  or  less  decomposed,  and  it  is  well  known  that  Bacillus  butyricus 
under  certain  conditions  is  able  to  cause  the  phenomena  of  fermentation 
in  cellulose,  and  at  the  same  time  to  form  nodules  of  starch  within  its  own 
cells.  What  constituent  part  of  corn  fodder  is  first  fermented  in  the  silo 
cannot  now  be  stated,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  be  the  cellulose  fiber.  The 
butyric  organisms  can  directly  ferment  sugar  without  the  more  common 
intervention  of  lactic  acid  production.  It  may  also  work  directly  upon 
the  nitrogenous  vegetable  substances;  and,  very  likely,  this  is  what  is 
specially  done  during  the  high-temperature  period. 

There  are  many  interesting  problems  to  be  settled  in  every  one  of  the 
numerous  changes  occuring  in  ensilage,  but  the  hot  fermentations  espe- 
cially deserve,  and  should  receive,  very  thorough  investigation. 

6.  The  destructive  changes  occurring  in  ensilage  after  the  fermenta- 
tions described  above  are  of  numerous  kinds,  but  are  roughly  divisible 
into  two  general  classes,  based  upon  the  destroying  agents. 

Numerous  kinds  of  bacteria,  different  from  those  already  mentioned, 
and  producing  decompositions  rather  than  fermentations,  are  found. 
Prominent  among  them  is  Bacillus  subtilis  the  so-called  hay  Bacillus.  It 
is  hardly  possible  to  make  a  culture  from  old  but  still  edible  ensilage, 
whether  it  has  been  through  the  stage  of  very  high  temperature  or  not,  with- 
out finding  this  readily  recognized  organism.  In  form  and  size  the  vegetat- 
ing rods  resemble  Bacillus  butyricus,  but  can  be  very  easily  distinguished  in 
cultures,  because  of  the  aerobic  character,  growing  luxuriantly  on  sur- 
faces exposed  to  the  air.  On  nutrient  liquids  it  forms  a  tough,  wrinkled, 
pellicle  upon  the  surface.  The  growth  is  most  abuudant  at  about  38°  C. 
and  entirely  ceases  at  a  temperature  above  50°  C.  Various  other  kinds 
of  bacteria  are  found,  but  by  no  means  always  the  same  species.  No  doubt 
some  of  them  aid  in  producing  the  semi-putrid  decompositions  accom- 
panied by  the  bad  oder  which  so  often  occurs  in  old  ensilage.  It  is  worthy 
of  remark  that  the  very  sour  material  is  slowest  to  undergo  these  last  men- 
tioned unfavorable  changes. 

The  second  class  of  destroying  agents  is  mold-fungi.  Prominent 
among  these  is  a  species  of  Mucor,  which  forms  an  abundant  white  felt- 
like  growth  in  streaks  and  layers  of  the  closely  pressed  material,  and  is  in 
all  cases  noted  as  the  first  to  develop  after  the  excessive  heat  production 
has  ceased.  Penicillium  mold  follows  at  a  much  later  stage,  and  then  often 
makes  a  grayish  blue  crust  from  which  the  spores  arise  in  clouds  of  dust 
on  disturbance. 

Not  only  does  this  blue  mold  grow  on  rather  dry  material,  but  on  the 
warm,  moist  substance  a  black  mold  seems  to  be  a  constant  destroyer. 
Under  the  influence  of  the  latter  the  material  sinks  down  into  a  homogene- 
ous, pasty,  rotten  condition,  has  a  bad  odor,  and  is  certainly  of  no  value. 


19°  BULLETIN  NO.  7.  [November, 

7.  The  principal  results  of  Dr.  Manns'  chemical  investigations  upon 
this  subject  are  embodied  in  the  subjoined  paper,  kindly  furnished  by  him 
for  this  publication. 

"CHEMICAL  INVESTIGATIONS  OF  ENSILAGE." 

"In  glancing  over  the  published  reports  of  the  analyses  of  ensilage, 
we  usually  find  the  volatile  acids  designated  acetic,  and  the  non-volatile, 
lactic. 

"In  conjunction  with  Professor  Burrill's  studies  on  the  biology  of 
ensilage  it  seemed  desirable  to  determine  the  nature  of  the  acids  present, 
in  order  to  furnish  additional  evidence  of  the  kind  of  fermentation  prev- 
alent in  the  silo. 

"The  material  was  taken  from  the  two  silos  at  the  University  farm, 
and  was  in  a  poor  condition,  having  passed  through  the  earlier  stages  of 
fermentation.  While  it  would  have  been  better  to  have  worked  with  well 
preserved  ensilage,  still  the  study  of  the  diseases  to  which  the  substance 
is  liable  and  its  condition  in  an  abnormal  state  is  fully  as  desirable  as 
investigations  relating  to  the  normal  fodder.  Samples  were  taken  from 
the  center  and  bottom  of  the  silo,  where  the  ensilage  was  in  its  best  state 
of  preservation,  having  been  but  slightly  affected  by  the  rotting  ferment. 

"The  chemical  analysis  of  this  ensilage  showed  wide  variations  in 
the  results.  The  amount  of  dry  matter  ranging  from  13  to  40  parts  in  too. 
However,  this  lack  of  uniformity  was  due  mainly  to  the  varied  nature  and 
condition  of  the  material  with  which  the  silo  had  been  filled.  The  mass, 
likewise,  lacked  uniformity  in  the  degree  of  acidity  as  shown  in  the  fol- 
lowing table: 

TABLE  SHOWING  DEGREE  OF  ACIDITY. 


Lab.  No. 

Material. 

Percent.  *volatile  acids. 

Percent.  *non-volatile  acids. 

129  b.  .  . 
130  b... 
131  b... 

Burr's  white  (Exp't  No.  2.) 
"B.  &  W."  (Exp't  No.  2.) 
"B.  &  W."  (Exp't  No.  5.) 

0.686  

.     I.T.I     . 

0.679  
0.397  

i-59 
2.05 



•"•'Calculated  as  acetic  and  lactic  acids. 

"It  will  be  seen  that  the  acidity  was  due  largely  to  the  non-volatile 
acids.  Ordinarily  the  volatile  acids  predominate. 

"The  Volatile  Acids.  The  ensilage  was  put  into  large  flasks  and  suf- 
ficient water  was  added  to  cover  it.  The  flasks  were  then  connected  with 
Liebig  condensers  and  their  contents  boiled  until  nearly  all  the  water  had 
passed  over.  This  operation  was  repeated  until  the  water  dripping  from 
the  condenser  no  longer  reddened  litmus  paper. 

"The  distillate  has  a  strong,  characteristic,  ethereal  odor.  A  white 
crystaline  substance,  together  with  a  small  quantity  of  oil,  floats  on  top 
of  the  liquid.  These  crystals  were  collected  on  a  filter  and  reserved  for 
subsequent  examination.  The  filterate  was  treated  repeatedly  with  ether, 


1889.]  BIOLOGY    OF    ENSILAGE  IQI 

neutralized  with  sodium  hydroxide  and  evaporated  to  dryness.  The  salt 
obtained  was  recrystalized  and  proved  to  be  chiefly  sodium  acetate.  The 
first  three  crops  of  crystals  were  dried,  fused,  and  finally  carefully  distilled 
with  concentrated  sulphuric  acid,  and  yielded  an  acid  which  boiled  con- 
stant at  118°  C.  The  mother  liquor  similarly  treated  yielded  a  further 
quantity  of  acetate  acid,  together  with  a  fraction  which  boiled  above 
118°  C.  This  latter  fraction  was  added  to  an  oil  which  was  obtained 
from  the  ether  washings. 

"On  evaporating  the  ether  from  the  solution  obtained  in  agitating 
the  above  filterate  with  ether,  a  thick  oily  liquid  was  obtained  which  had  a 
strong  acid  reaction  and  a  very  disagreeable  odor.  Treatment  with 
water  readily  dissolved  the  greater  portion  of  the  oil,  while  the  portion 
left  undissolved  was  nearly  insoluable  even  in  large  volumes  of  water. 
The  oil  was  neutralized  with  a  10  per  cent,  solution  of  caustic  soda,  and  a 
small  quantity  of  flaky  matter,  which  separated  on  standing,  was  collected 
on  a  filter,  purified  by  pressing  between  sheets  of  bibulous  paper,  and 
then  decomposed  with  an  acid.  The  acid  separated  from  this  proved  to 
be  indentical  with  that  found  floating  with  the  oil  on  the  surface  of  the 
original  distillate.  The  acid  was  purified  by  removing  the  adhering  oil, 
and  crystallization  from  alcohol.  The  crystals  melt  at  62° -63°  C.,  are 
insoluble  in  water,  readily  soluable  in  ether.  The  silver  salt  contains 
29.45  per  cent,  of  silver  corresponding  with  the  salt  of  a  fatty  acid  of  the 
formula  C16  H31  O3  Ag. 

"  The  melting  point,  the  general  appearance  of  the  crystals,  together 
with  the  percentage  of  silver  in  the  salt,  would  indicate  that  the  substance 
is  palmetic  acid.  Owing  to  the  small  amount  of  material  obtained  it  was 
found  impracticable  to  make  a  determination  of  carbon  and  hydrogen. 
Fractional  crystallization  of  the  remaining  sodium  salts  obtained  in  neu- 
tralizing the  oil  having  failed  to  give  satisfactory  results,  the  acids  were 
recovered  by  distilling  the  sulphuric  acid.  Upon  repeating  distillation, 
10  per  cent,  of  the  oil  was  found  to  distil  at  130° -145°  C.;  about  70  per 
cent.  145°  to  170°  C.;  15  per  cent,  at  170° -195°  C.;  and  the  remainder 
at  i95°-205°  C. 

"  Each  of  these  fractions  was  converted  into  the  barium  or  the  sodi- 
um salt;  the  salt  recrystallized,  decomposed  by  sulphuric  acid,  and  the  oil 
thus  obtained  redistilled. 

"The  product  obtained  from  the  first  fraction  boiled  at  140°  to 
145°  C.,  was  converted  into  the  basic  lead  salt  by  evaporation  of  the 
aqueous  solution  with  an  excess  of  litharge.  The  mass  was  extracted  with 
cold  water,  filtered  and  heated  to  boiling,  whereupon  the  characteris- 
tic crystalline  salt  of  basic  lead  propionate  separated.  The  barium  salt 
contained  48.92  per  cent,  of  barium,  while  theory  requires  48.41  per  cent, 
for  barium  propionate. 

" The  product  from  the  second  fraction  distilled  at  163°  C.  It  was 
converted  into  the  barium  salt  This,  upon  analysis,  gave  results  closely 


192  BULLETIN  NO.  -j .  [November, 

corresponding  to  barium  butyrate.  Theory,  44 .05  per  cent,  of  barium; 
found,  43.65  per  cent. 

"The  product  from  the  fraction  collected  from  170°  to  195°  C.  pos- 
sessed the  offensive  odor  of  valeric  acid.  Its  barium  salt  yielded  40.01 
per  cent,  of  barium;  barium  valerate  contains  40.41  per  cent. 

"  The  product  from  the  last  portion  was  a  solid  at  the  ordinary  tem- 
perature. It  boiled  at  198°  to  205°  C.,  and  while  it  could  not  be  com- 
pletely purified,  because  of  its  limited  quantity,  still  the  general  physical 
properties  together  with  the  results  obtained  in  the  analysis  of  the  barium 
salt  would  leave  no  doubt  as  to  its  being  one  of  the  caproic  acids.  This 
salt  contained  37.19  per  cent,  of  barium,  while  barium  caproate  requires 
37.33  per  cent. 

"The  relative  proportion  in  which  these  acids  were  present  was 
roughly  determined.  About  79  per  cent,  of  the  volatile  acids,  consisted 
of  acetic  acid;  18  per  cent,  was  butyric;  and  2  per  cent,  valeric  acid. 
Propionic  and  caproic  acids  were  present  in  small  quantities  as  was  also 
the  crystalline  acid  which  collected  on  the  surface  of  the  distillate  in  dis- 
tilling the  ensilage  with  water. 

"  The  non-volatile  acids.  The  non-volatile  acids  were  easily  extracted 
from  ensilage,  but  great  difficulty  was  encountered  in  isolating  and  identi- 
fying them.  Ensilage  was  extracted  with  boiling  water  and  this  extract 
evaporated  on  the  water-bath  to  the  consistence  of  thick  syrup.  From 
this  residue  ether  extracts  an  oily  substance  of  bitter  taste,  which  reduces 
Fehling's  solution.  On  standing,  this  oil  deposited  crystals  of  succinic 
acid.  They  were  purified  by  removing  the  adhering  oil  with  petroleum 
spirits,  drying  between  filter  paper,  and  recrystalizing.  The  crystals  melt 
at  179°  C. 

"  In  a  subsequent  examination  of  ensilage,  small  quantities  of  lactic 
acid  were  found.  Other  acids  were  present  in  considerable  quantity,  but 
their  nature  could  not  be  determined. 

"  Mannite.  Ether  proved  to  be  a  poor  solvent  for  the  non-volatile 
acids  in  the  residue  from  the  aqueous  extracts  of  ensilage.  The  mass  was 
thereupon  treated  with  boiling  alcohol,  as  this  removed  the  acid,  leaving 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  extracted  matter  undissolved.  On  concen- 
trating this  alcoholic  solution  to  about  one-tenth  its  original  volume,  and 
allowing  the  liquid  to  cool,  a  mass  of  crystals  separated  which  were  col- 
lected and  purified  by  crystalizing  from  alcohol.  They  proved  to  be 
crystals  of  mannite,  an  alcohol  closely  allied  to  the  sugars. 

"Mannite  is  C6Hi4O«:  the  difference  between  the  composition  of 
the  crystals,  as  shown  by  the  analysis  and  the  theory,  is  as  follows: 

Carbon,  found,  39.78  per  cent.;  theory,  39.56  per  cent. 
Hydrogen,  found,  8.04  per  cent. ;  theory,  7.69  per  cent. 
Oxygen,  found,  52.18  per  cent;  theory,  52.75  per  cent. 

100.00  100.00 


1889.]  BIOLOGY    OF    ENSILAGE.  193 

" Gates  in  the  Silo. — A  long  iron  tube,  open  at  both  ends,  was  driven 
to  the  center  of  the  silo,  and  air  was  drawn  from  that  point  by  connect- 
ing the  exterior  opening  of  the  tube  with  an  aspirator.  The  apparatus 
was  so  arranged  that  cylinders  filled  with  water  could  be  introduced  into 
the  circuit.  As  soon  as  the  air  in  the  iron  tube  had  been  displaced,  the 
gases  were  caused  to  pass  into  these  cylinders,  three  in  number,  displac- 
ing the  water.  On  determination  there  were  found — 

Carbonic  acid — (i)  15.55  per  cent. ;   (2)  15-14  per  cent. ;    (3)  14.98  per  cent. 
Oxygen  — (i)     2.56  per  cent. ;   (2)     2.24  per  cent. ;    (3)     2. 12  per  cent. 

The  remainder  was  supposed  to  be  principally  nitrogen,  but  was  not  further  deter- 
mined. 

On  passing  48  gallons  of  the  silo  gases  through  500  gm.  of  water,  the 
latter  was  found  to  contain  16  gm.  of  acid. 

"In  addition  to  these  complete  analyses,  sufficient  work  was  done 
upon  the  following  samples  to  give  the  information  tabulated  below.  For 
the  sake  of  comparison,  volatile  and  non-volatile  acids  of  three  samples 
from  the  farm  silos  are  inserted. 

TABLE  SHOWING  PER  CENT.  OF  ACIDS  IN  ENSILAGE. 


Volatile  acids. 

Non-volatile  acids. 

From  University  silos  (i)   

0.686 

i.  no 

From  University  silos  (2)  

0.670 

I.CQO 

O.7Q7 

2  050 

From  Mr.  Gurler,  July  29,  1889  

O.Q7Q 

1.767 

Fresh  green  clover,  July  I5«  1889       

O.O24 

O.65O 

Hot  clover  3  days  after  storage,  July  18,  1889 
Hot  clover  15  days  after  storage  

O.O6O 
O.O^S 

0330 

Green  wheat  28  days  after  storaee  .  . 

0.^8 

1.208 

" ALBERT  G.  MANNS,  PH.D.,  Chemist" 

SUMMARY. 

Ensilage  is  a  very  variable  product.  The  variations  are  due  to  so 
many  factors,  —  including  differences  in  the  original  material,  in  the  states 
and  conditions  of  the  weather,  and  in  the  construction  of  the  storage 
bins,  —  that  great  care  and  much  knowledge  must  be  required  to  secure 
reasonably  uniform  results. 

Ensilage  is  never  truly  preserved  fodder,  but  is  more  nearly  such 
when  the  mass  has  been  very  hot  for  a  time  and  then  has  the  air  most 
thoroughly  excluded  by  the  proper  construction  of  the  silo  and  the  densest 
attainable  condition  of  the  material.  The  initial  high  temperature  is 
probably  mostly  serviceable  by  causing  this  closer  packing  of  the  mass 
rather  than  by  killing  the  germs  of  other  ferments. 

No  appreciable  alcoholic  fermentation  occurs.  The  very  high  tem- 
perature often  attained  is  due  to  two  or  more  species  of  rod-like  Bacilli 
which  appear  to  cause  butyric  fermentation  and  its  allies. 

Lactic  fermentation  is  most  abundant  in  the  earlier  transformations 
of  ensilage  not  originally  rising  to  a  high  temperature. 

Acetic  fermentation  only  occurs  when  the  temperature  sinks  below 
35  °  C.  (95  °  F.).  A  large  proportion  of  water  is  favorable  to  this  change, 


i94 


BULLETIN    NO.   7. 


\November, 


and  the  sharply  acid  material  is  much  less  likely  to  be  attacked  by  decom- 
posing agents  (other  bacteria  and  mold  fungi).  Except  for  the  difference 
in  density  of  the  material,  that  originally  hot  subsequently  sours  nearly  as 
rapidly  as  that  less  heated  at  first. 

The  best  results  are  obtained  by  the  most  nearly  perfect  exclusion  of 
air.  For  this  purpose,  uniform  distribution  upon  filling  the  silo  is  of 
more  importance  than  persistent  tramping,  because  the  pressure  of  the 
mass  must  be  mostly  relied  upon. 

THOMAS  J.  BURRILL,  Ph.D., 

Horticulturist  and  Botanist. 


FIELD  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  OATS,  1889. 

Experiment  No.  12.     Oats,  Quantity  of  Seed  per  Acre. 

Seven  contiguous  plats,  each  2x4  rods,  were  sown  broadcast  at  the 
rate  of  from  one  to  four  bushels  per  acre,  April  5,  1888,  and  again  March 
27,  1889.  In  both  cases  welcome  oats  were  sown  on  fall-plowed  land, 
and  covered  with  a  disk  harrow  and  twice  harrowing. 

In  1888  the  oats  came  up  evenly  and  well;  headed  evenly  June  i8th 
to  2ist;  were  blown  flat  by  a  storm  July  loth;  July  i8th  and  ipth  were 
mowed  and  bound.  At  this  time  the  straw,  leaves,  and  glumes  were  mostly 
yellow  and  dry.  On  plats  i  and  2,  on  which  the  least  seed  was  sown, 
they  were  slightly  greener  than  on  the  others.  These  plats  also,  especially 
plat  i,  had  more  weeds.  The  crop  was  threshed  July  26th  and  27th,  that 
from  plats  5,  6,  and  7  after  a  slight  shower  and  when  somewhat  damp. 

In  1889  the  oats  came  up  evenly  and  well;  were  blown  down  by  a 
storm  on  the  night  of  June  2oth,  five  days  before  they  were  fully  headed, 
and  were  harvested  July  i8th  to  2oth,  being  mostly  mown  on  account  of 
being  down  so  badly.  As  in  1888,  plats  i  and  2  had  more  weeds,  but  the 
oats  on  these  plats  were  not  materially  greener.  August  loth  to  i2th  the 
oats  were  threshed.  The  variations  in  the  weight  of  straw,  especially 
noticeable  in  1889,  were  probably  due  to  the  oats  being  so  badly  down 
that  it  was  impossible  to  harvest  the  straw  equally  from  the  several  plats. 

The  following  table  gives  results  for  the  two  years: 
TABLE  SHOWING  SEED  SOWN;  YIELD  OF  GRAIN  AND  STRAW;  WEIGHT  PER  BUSHEL. 


Plat. 

Seed  per 

Gfrain  per  acre,  bu. 

Straw  per  acre,  Ib. 

Pounds  per  bu. 

acre,  bushels. 

1888. 

1889. 

1888. 

1889. 

1889. 

i 

i 

52-5 

36.3 

3,820 

4,600 

25-5 

2 

i-5 

59-4 

33-i 

4,400 

3,800 

25 

3 

2 

61.4 

42.5           4,540 

4,000 

28 

4 

2-5 

63-8 

43.8           4,860 

3,000 

28 

5 

3 

61.9 

47.2 

5,220              4,400 

29 

6 

3-5 

62.5 

52.1 

4,400            4,  100 

29.5 

7 

4 

60.6 

50.6 

4,260          3,200 

29.5 

i889.] 


EXPERIMENTS  WITH  OATS,  1889. 


Experiment  No.  13.     Oats,  Compact  or  Loose  Seed-Bed. 

Three  plats,  each  2x4  rods,  were  sown  broadcast  April  6,  1888,  at 
the  rate  of  two  and  one-half  bushels  per  acre. 

In  plat  i,  the  oats  were  sown  on  fall-plowed  land,  and  lightly  cov- 
ered with  a  disk  harrow.  The  land  was  then  rolled  with  a  heavy  garden 
roller  and  afterwards  harrowed. 

Plat  2  was  cultivated  with  a  disk  harrow  before  sowing;  the  oats  were 
covered  by  disking  once  and  once  harrowing. 

Plat  3  was  disked  three  times  before  sowing,  once  afterward,  and  then 
harrowed. 

The  oats  came  up  evenly  and  ripened  at  the  same  time.  They  were 
harvested  July  ipth  and  threshed  July  27th  to  28th. 

March  27,  1889,  four  plats,  each  2x4  rods,  were  sown  broadcast  with 
welcome  oats  at  the  rate  of  two  and  one-half  bushels  per  acre. 

In  plat  i,  the  oats  were  sown  on  fall-plowed  land,  and  were  covered 
by  disking  once  and  harrowing  twice. 

In  plat  2  the  oats  were  sown  on  fall-plowed  land  and  were  covered  by 
harrowing  twice.  Plats  3  and  4  were  treated  as  were  plats  2  and  3  in  1888. 

The  oats  came  up  and  ripened  evenly.  They  were  down  rather  badly 
on  plat  i,  less  on  plat  2,  still  less  on  plat  3,  and  were  standing  fairly  on 
plat  4,  this  condition  being  due  probably,  to  differences  in  the  soil.  They 
were  harvested  July  i9th  and  threshed  August  loth. 

The  following  table  gives  the  results  for  the  two  years: 

TABLE  SHOWING  CONDITION  OF  SEED-BED;  YIELD  OF  GRAIN  AND  STRAW;  WEIGHT 

PER  BUSHEL. 


1888. 

] 

889. 

Seed-bed. 

Plat. 

Grain  pel- 
acre,  bu. 

Straw  per 
acre,  Ib. 

Plat. 

Grain  per 
acre,  bu. 

Straw  per 
acre,  Ib. 

Pounds 
per  bu. 

Very  compact  .  .  . 
Compact  

i 

60 

4  180 

2' 
i 

40 

AA  J. 

3,100 
•i  200 

25-5 

27 

Medium  loose.  .  . 
Very  loose  .  . 

2 
1 

66.3 
60.6 

5,38o 

A.Afio 

3 

A 

47-8 

AA.  I 

2,900 

2.  1OO 

27-5 
T.O 

Experiment  No.  14.     Oats,  Time  of  Sowing. 

Four  adjacent  plats  each  2x4  rods,  were  sown  broadcast,  at  the  rate 
of  two  and  one-half  bushels  per  acre,  at  intervals  of  one  week,  from 
April  6  to  April  27, 1888.  In  each  case  the  oats  were  sown  on  fall-plowed 
land,  and  were  covered  by  use  of  a  disk  harrow  and  the  common  tooth 
harrow. 

The  plants  fairly  covered  the  ground  on  plat  i  in  nineteen  days  after 
sowing;  on  plat  2,  in  fourteen  days;  on  plat  3,  in  ten  to  twelve  days;  and 
on  plat  4,  in  ten  days. 

The  oats  on  plat  i  headed  three  days  earlier  than  those  on  plat  2,  and 
eleven  days  earlier  than  those  on  plats  3  and  4.  The  oats  on  plats  i  and 


196 


BULLETIN    NO.  7. 


[November, 


2  ripened  nearly  at  the  same  time.  They  were  mowed  and  bound  July 
2oth,  plat  i  being  a  little  the  riper.  Plats  3  and  4  were  harvested  three 
days  later,  when  at  about  the  same  stage  of  ripeness  as  plat  i  was  when 
cut. 

In  1889  this  experiment  was  repeated,  except  that  seven  plats  instead 
of  four  were  used,  and  the  seeding  extended  from  March  i4th  to  April  25th. 

On  plats  i  and  2  the  ground  was  fairly  covered  with  growing  oats  at 
the  end  of  three  weeks;  on  plat  6  in  somewhat  less  time;  while  on  plat  7, 
owing  to  dry  weather,  the  oats  were  only  partly  up  at  the  end  of  three 
weeks. 

Plat  i  was  harvested  July  i5th;  plats  2  and  6,  July  22d.  Plats  2  to 
5  were  about  equally  ripe;  plat  6  was  a  trifle  greener.  Plat  7  was  harvested 
July  3Oth.  All  were  down  badly. 

The  following  table  gives  the  results  for  the  two  years : 

TABLE  SHOWING  DATE  OF  SOWING;  YIELD  OF  GRAIN  AND  STRAW;  WEIGHT  PER 

BUSHEL. 


1888. 

1889. 

Plat. 

Date  of 
Sowing. 

Grain  per 
acre,  bu. 

Straw  per 
acre,  Ib. 

5,080 
5,020 
5.040 
5,020 

Plat. 

Date  of 
Sowing. 

Grain  per 
acre,  bu. 

Straw  per 
acre,  Ib. 

Weight 
per  bu.,lb. 

i 
2 

3 
4 

April    6  .  . 

13-  • 
20. 

27.  . 

66.3 

56.9 
48.8 

49-4 

i 

2 

3 
4 

I 

7 

March  14. 

22. 
28. 

April      4. 
II. 
18. 

25- 

48.1 
41-5 
41-3 
36.3 
33-  r 
25 
9-4 

3,6oo 
4,600 

5,200 

4,000 
4,000 
4,100 
3-700 

28.5 
28 
28.5 
26.5 

25 
22 
21 

Experiment  No.  15.      Oats,  Depth  of  Sowing. 

April  25,  1888,  sixty  selected  kernels  were  sown  in  each  of  twelve 
TOWS,  ten  feet  long.  The  first  two  rows  were  covered  one  inch  deep;  and 
•each  succeeding  two  rows  one  inch  deeper,  rows  n  and  12  being  covered 
with  six  inches  of  earth. 

The  size  and  the  apparent  vigor  of  the  plants  in  the  rows  was  in  the 
following  order :  First,  rows  5  and  6;  second,  rows  3,  4,  7,  and  8;  third, 
rows  i  and  2;  fourth,  rows  9  and  10;  fifth,  rows  n  and  12.  The  oats  in 
rows  i  to  8,  inclusive,  were  fully  headed  July  6th;  those  in  rows  9  and  10, 
less  fully;  and  those  in  rows  n  and  12,  still  less. 

The  number  of  plants  growing  in  each  row  at  various  dates  and  the 
results  of  the  harvest  are  shown  by  the  following  table. 

In  1889  this  experiment  was  repeated,  an  extra  row  being  sown  at 
each  side  so  that  the  twelve  rows  in  the  test  would  be  under  similar  con- 
ditions. The  failure  to  do  this  in  1888  obviously  caused  an  increased 
number  of  heads  per  stool  and  a  relatively  increased  yield  in  the  outside 
rows,  as  shown  in  the  last  column  of  the  first  table  on  the  opposite  page. 


i889.] 


EXPERIMENTS  WITH  OATS,  1889. 


I97 


TABLE  SHOWING  NUMBER  OF  PLANTS  GROWING  AT  GIVEN  DATES;  YIELD  OF  GRAIN 
AND  STRAW;  NUMBER  OF  STOOLS  AND  HEADS.- 


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10.3 

The  seeding  was  done  March  28th.  Rows  9  to  12  were  disturbed  by 
some  underground  animal  and  are  not  reported.  The  deeper  seeded  rows 
were  slower  coming  up,  as  shown  by  the  table  below.  The  subsequent 
growth  and  vigor  of  the  rows  was  very  much  alike. 

TABLE  SHOWING  NUMBER  OF  PLANTS  GROWING  AT  GIVEN  DATES;  YIELD  OF  GRAIN 
AND  STRAW;  NUMBER  OF  STOOLS  AND  HEADS. 


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Experiment  No.  84.     Oats,  Test  of  Varieties. 

The  attempt  was  made  in  this  test  to  secure  all  the  distinct  varieties 
of  oats  offered  by  the  leading  seedsmen  of  the  United  states,  and  to  grow 
them  in  comparison  with  some  well-tried  varieties.  Where  two  or  more 
firms  offered  the  same  variety,  it  was  usually  obtained  from  the  firm 
endorsing  it  in  the  strongest  terms. 

Most  persons  familiar  with  seedsmens'  catalogues  have  doubtless 
noticed  that  no  class  of  farm  seeds  receives  such  abundant  praise,  or  has 
its  merits  set  forth  in  such  glowing  terms  as  the  varieties  of  oats.  It 
would  seem,  therefore,  that  no  other  farm  crop  would  so  well  repay  a  care- 
ful test  of  the  varieties. 


198  BULLETIN  NO.  7.  [November, 

Twenty-nine  varieties  were  obtained  from  seedsmen  named  in  the  table 
page  204.  These-,  with  two  varieties,welcome  oats  and  common  mixed  oats, 
grown  for  some  years  with  good  results  on  the  University  farms,  were 
sown  broadcast  March  28,  1889,  on  plats  2x4  rods,  at  the  rate  of  two  and 
one-half  bushels  per  acre.  The  tract  had  been  in  corn  several  years,  and, 
although  an  even  piece  of  land  excellently  adapted  to  a  comparative  test  of 
varieties,  its  fertility  was  low.  Large  yields  could  not  be  expected.  The 
tract  was  plowed  and  rolled  just  previous  to  the  seeding  and  twice  har- 
rowed afterwards. 

NOTES  ON  VARIETIES. 

The  varieties  are  arbitrarily  divided,  according  to  their  dates  of 
ripening,  into  very  early,  early,  medium,  late,  and  very  late  maturing 
varieties.  These  are  somewhat  definite  characteristics  for  a  particular 
locality,  a  knowledge  of  which  is  of  importance  to  the  farmer  in  planning 
his  season's  work. 

VERY  EARLY  MATURING  VARIETIES. 

This  class  includes  four  varieties  which  were  ripe  July  1 5th. 

White  bonanza  and  white  wonder  are  handsome  varieties  resembling  each  other 
closely.  Measurements  indicate  that  the  straw  of  white  wonder  is  slightly  smaller,  while 
the  proportion  of  grain  to  straw  by  weight  is  smaller  in  white  bonanza  as  grown  this 
year.  The  resemblances  between  these  two  varieties,  if  they  are  distinct  varieties,  are 
much  closer  than  would  have  been  supposed  from  the  seed  sown.  For,  while  there  was 
a  difference  in  favor  of  white  bonanza  of  nearly  one  gram  in  the  weight  of  one  hundred 
berries  as  sown,  there  was  a  difference  of  only  about  one-tenth  of  a  gram  in  one  hundred 
berries  of  the  resulting  crop,  and  that  in  favor  of  white  wonder.  Similar  differences  may 
be  noted  in  the  proportion  of  kernels  to  berries.  In  the  seed  sown,  white  bonanza  con- 
tained 71.3  and  white  wonder  59.7  per  cent  of  kernel;  while  in  the  resulting  crop  the  per 
cent,  of  kernel  was  61.5  and  62.7  per  cent.,  respectively. 

The  berries  are  white,  large,  plump,  and  short;  culms  or  straw,  3.5  to  4  feet  high,  of 
medium  size,  straight  and  moderately  strong;  panicles,  or  head,  open,  9  to  10  inches  long. 

White  bonanza  was  standing  well  when  harvested,  but  white  wonder  stood  only 
fairly. 

Texas  rust  proof,  and  new  red  rust  proof  resemble  each  other  closely,  but  the  latter 
is  distinctly  the  larger  growing  variety. 

The  berries  are  of  a  reddish  dun  color,  long  and  slender,  with  the  awn  usually  re- 
maining attached;  culms,  2.5  to  3  feet  high,  small,  fine,  straight,  and  stiff;  panicles,  open, 
6  to  8  inches  long. 

Both  varieties  rusted  as  badly  as  the  average  of  the  other  varieties  planted.  While 
several  observers  report  them  desirable  for  states  further  south,  they  do  not  seem  to  be 
adapted  to  central  Illinois.  Indeed,  this  was  not  to  be  expected,  for  they  are  essentially 
varieties  of  the  south,  where  they  are  usually  sown  in  the  fall. 

EARLY  MATURING  VARIETIES. 

This  division  includes  those  varieties  which  were  ripe  July  1 7th  and  i8th. 

Welcome,  prize  cluster,  Badger  queen,  white  Belgian,  and  Hopetown  resemble  each 
other  closely.  The  table  on  opposite  page  will  show  the  points  of  resemblance  and  dif- 
ference more  clearly  and  briefly  than  a  description. 


1889.]  EXPERIMENTS    WITH    OATS,  1889. 

TABLE  SHOWING  VARIETIES  NAMED,  IN  COMPARISON. 


I99 


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Hopetown  .... 

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74.1 

63 

The  most  striking  differences  are  found  in  the  weight  and  the  per  cent,  of  kernel  in 
the  berries  of  Hopetown  as  compared  to  the  other  varieties;  but  these  differences  were 
not  sustained  in  the  crop. 

These  varieties  have  a  white,  short,  plump,  medium  sized  berry;  culms,  mostly  4  feet 
high,  medium  size,  and  rather  weak;  panicles,  open,  about  n  inches  long. 

Any  of  the  above  varieties  are  to  be  commended  for  general  seeding. 

Clydesdale  differs  slightly  from  these  in  having  larger,  coarser  straw  and  rather 
plumper  berries.  Here,  again,  the  difference  in  the  berries  of  the  seed  and  resulting  crop 
is  striking,  as  an  inspection  of  the  table,  page  208,  will  show. 

Fringes  progress,  although  not  harvested  until  July  i8th,  might  have  been  classed 
with  the  very  early  maturing  varieties.  It  has  a  long  white  berry  of  moderate  size;  culms, 
3  feet  high,  small  and  strong;  panicles,  open,  7  to  8  inches  long. 

May  prove  desirable  on  strong  land. 

MEDIUM  MATURING  VARIETIES. 

In  this  division  are  classed  those  varieties  which  ripened  July  2Oth. 

Wide  awake  and  centennial  agree  in  having  a  white,  moderately  short,  plump  berry; 
culms,  4  feet  high,  large,  appearing  weak,  although  wide  awake  stood  well  when  har- 
vested; panicles,  open,  10  to  12  inches  long,  being  rather  the  longer  in  centennial. 

American  banner  resembles  wide  awake  and  centennial  in  the  sheaf,  but  has  a  some- 
what larger  berry,  and  shorter,  smaller,  and  stronger  straw,  and  shorter  panicle. 

Probsteir  and  Japan  differ  from  these  in  having  a  closed  panicle  and  medium  sized 
straw. 

Egyptian  and  improved  American  are  somewhat  smaller  growing  than  wide  awake  or 
centennial;  culms,  3.5  feet  high,  of  medium  size,  strong;  panicles  from  8  to  9  inches  long. 

Improved  American  stood  third  in  regard  to  yield. 

Hargetfs  white  has  a  little  longer  straw  than  the  last  named  varieties;  otherwise  it 
resembles  them  closely. 

Early  Dakota  white  has  a  long,  slender,  rather  small,  white  berry;  culms,  3.75  feet 
high,  rather  small;  panicle,  full,  open,  about  10  inches  long. 

It  is  a  fine  appearing  variety  in  the  sheaf,  and  gave  the  second  best  yield. 

LATE  MATURING  VARIETIES. 

In  this  division  are  classed  those  varieties  which  were  ripe  July  24th. 

Black  Russian  and  black  prolific  appear  identical.  They  have  a  long,  slender, 
rather  small,  mostly  black  berry;  culms,  3.75  feet  high,  large;  panicles,  closed,  10  inches 
long. 


200 


BULLETIN    NO.   7. 


\November t 


New  Dakota  gray,  although  having  in  the  seed  lighter  colored  berries,  had  in  the 
resulting  crop  berries  as  black  as  black  Russian  or  black  prolific.  It  differs  otherwise  in 
having  a  larger,  coarser  straw. 

Black  Tartarian  differs  from  the  first  named  in  having  open  panicles  and  medium 
sized  straw. 

Virginia  winter  has  a  long,  slender,  small,  reddish,  dun-colored  berry;  culms,  3.75 
feet  long,  small;  panicles,  open,  10  inches  long. 

This  is  apparently  a  southern  variety. 

American  triumph  has  a  long,  slender,  small,  white  berry;  culms,  4  feet  high,  me- 
dium size;  panicles,  open,  n  inches  long. 

VERY  LATE  MATURING  VARIETIES. 

In  this  division  are  classed  those  varieties  that  were  ripe  July  27th. 

White  Russian  has  along,  slender,  medium  sized,  white  berry;  culms,  3.5  feet  high, 
medium  size;  panicles,  closed,  4  to  10  inches  long. 

Common  mixed  is  merely  white  Russian  mixed  slightly  with  some  black  variety. 

Giant  yellow  French  is  a  long,  slender,  medium  sized,  yellowish-white  variety; 
culms,  3.75  feet  high;  panicles,  closed,  10  to  12  inches  long. 

In  the  above  description  the  term  white  is  used  to  describe  the  color  of  the  so-called 
white  varieties.  The  color  is  really  yellowish-white.  In  giant  yellow  French,  the  yellow 
color  is  very  pronounced,  distinguishing  it  from  all  other  varieties  in  this  respect.  The 
seed  is  said  to  have  been  imported  from  France.  It  yielded  the  best  of  any  of  the 
varieties  tested. 

Canadian  black'hzs,  a  long,  slender,  rather  small,  blackish  to  black  berry;  culms,  3.25 
feet  high,  small;  panicles,  open,  8  to  10 inches  long.  The  berry  is  the  most  nearly  black 
of  any  of  the  varieties  tested. 

The  following  synopsis  may  help  the  reader  to  a  clearer  comprehension  of  the  rela- 
tionship of  the  several  varieties. 

f  Dun  .  .  \  Berry  long. . 


Extra  early  . .  {  Open  panicle . 


[  White.  \  Berry  short. . 


Oat 


("  Berry  short.  . 

J    \X7l*!«-M 

i  White.  J 
I  Berry  long.  . 

f  Berry  long.  . 

r  Open  panicle  .  . 

1 
Medium  j 

1 
*  Closed  panicle 

{.White.] 
I  Berry  short.  . 

-{  White.  ^  Berry  short.. 

r  Open  panicle  .  . 
Late  J 

C  White,  -j  Berry  long. 
i  Black.  ^  Berry  long. 
"^^^  *  *  i  Bcrrv  loner* 

1  Closed  panicle 

-(  Black  .  ]  Berry  long.  . 

fOpen  panicle 
,  Very  late....  ^ 
1  Closed  panicle. 

<|  Black.  ^  Berry  long.. 
\  White,  -j  Berry  long.  . 

j  Texas  rust  proof. 

j  New  red  rust  proof. 

j  White  bonanza. 

j  White  wonder. 

i  Welcome. 

I  Prize  cluster. 

j  Badger  queen. 

"j  White  Belgian. 

]  Hopetown. 

[  Clydesdale. 

-{  Pringle's  progress. 

American  banner. 

Early  Dakota. 
f  Wide  awake. 
|  Centennial. 
<j  Egyptian. 
I  Improved  American. 
[  Hargett's  white. 
j  Probsteir. 
j  Japan. 

-[  American  triumph. 
-J  Black  Tartarian. 
-{  Virginia  winter. 
f  New  black  Russian. 
•{  Black  prolific. 
[  New  Dakota  gray. 
i  Canadian  black, 
f  White  Russian. 
1  Common  mixed. 
(_  Giant  yellow  French 


1889.]  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  OATS,  1889.  2OI 

VITALITY  OF  SEED. 

Of  the  berries  of  28  varieties  tested  in  the  Geneva  apparatus  for  18 
days  at  the  mean  temperature  of  66.5°  F.,  93  per  cent,  sprouted.  In  15 
varieties  95  or  more  per  cent,  sprouted,  while  in  3  varieties  less  than  80  per 
cent,  sprouted. 

There  is  no  established  standard  per  cent,  of  vitality  for  oats,  or,  in- 
deed, for  any  other  class  of  seeds  in  this  country;  but  it  is  probably  not 
too  much  to  expect  95  per  cent,  of  a  good  sample  of  oats  to  sprout  under 
favorable  conditions. 

The  variations  in  germination  undoubtedly  affected  the  yield  to  a  cer- 
tain extent.  But  if  two  and  one-half  bushels  are  sown,  as  in  this  experi- 
ment, and  80  per  cent,  sprout,  it  is  equal  to  sowing  two  bushels  of  seed 
that  will  all  sprout,  assuming  the  same  strength  in  the  plants;  and  in 
experiment  No.  12,  as  to  quantity  of  seed,  it  appeared  in  1888  that 
there  were  but  2.4  bushels  (3.7  per  cent),  in  1889  but  1.3  bushels  (3  per 
cent.)  less  per  acre  from  two  than  from  two  and  one-half  bushels  of  seed. 
It  is  fair  to  assume,  therefore,  that  the  variations  in  the  vitality  of  the 
seed,  with  two  or  three  exceptions,  had  but  little  effect  upon  the  yield  as 
compared  with  other  causes. 

PURITY  OF  SEED. 

The  berries  in  ten  grams  of  the  seed  as  received  from  the  seedsmen 
were  counted.  Having,  in  counting,  freed  the  berries  from  all  foreign 
matter,  the  pure  berries  were  put  on  the  scales  and  berries  enough  added 
to  replace  the  foreign  matter.  The  ratio  between  the  number  added  and 
the  number  in  ten  grams  gives  the  per  cent,  of  foreign  matter,  with  suffi- 
cient accuracy  for  our  purpose. 

As  one  berry  constitutes  from  about  one-fourth  to  one-third  of  one  per 
cent,  of  the  ten  grams,  it  will  be  seen  from  the  table  on  page  208  that  of  the 
twenty-nine  varieties  sent  to  this  Station  twenty-four  varieties  contained 
less  than  one-third  of  one  per  cent,  of  foreign  matter.  The  remaining 
five  contained  an  average  of  only  two-thirds  of  one  per  cent.  One 
variety  only,  obtained  from  the  University  farms  and  not  especially  pre- 
pared for  seed,  contained  one  per  cent,  of  foreign  matter.  The  impurites 
usually  were  of  the  most  harmless  nature,  such  as  bits  of  straw,  chaff,  etc. 

Similar  data  were  obtained  in  the  resulting  crop.  The  oats  were 
threshed  by  means  of  a  cylinder  and  riddle  which  separated  the  oats  and 
chaff  from  the  straw.  The  first  fanning  removed  most  of  the  chaff,  after 
which  the  oats  were  fanned  twice.  Samples  were  then  taken  and  the 
number  of  berries  in  ten  grams  and  the  per  cent,  of  foreign  matter  ascer- 
tained. Twenty-one  varieties  contained  less  than  one-third  of  one  per 
cent,  of  impurity,  while  the  remaining  eleven  contained  less  than  two- 
thirds  of  one  per  cent. 

It  will  be  seen  that  not  only  was  the  per  cent,  of  impurity  of  the 
varieties  sent  to  this  Station  for  sowing  trifling,  but  it  was  even  less  than 
the  amount  left  in  the  oats  as  grown,  after  more  than  ordinary  care  was 


202  BULLETIN  NO.  7.  [November, 

taken  to  clean  them;  and  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  oats  offered  for  sale 
during  1889  by  leading  seedsmen  of  the  United  States,  were  substantially 
free  from  impurities.  Of  course  in  getting  seeds  from  a  distance  a  farmer 
may  introduce  upon  his  farm  a  new  and  troublesome  weed,  even  if  there 
is  but  one  foreign  seed  in  the  whole  consignment.  Such  a  matter,  how- 
ever, is  beyond  the  control  of  seedsmen. 

YIELD. 

Thirty-three  plats,  including  varieties  under  thirty  names,  gave  the 
rather  low  average  of  41  bushels  per  acre.  The  largest  yield,  a  little  less 
than  54  bushels,  was  given  by  giant  yellow  French,  the  seed  of  which,  it 
is  claimed,  was  imported.  Two  other  varieties,  early  Dakota  white  and 
improved  American,  yielded  above  50  bushels.  Four  varieties,  Japan, 
common  mixed  (white  Russian),  white  bonanza,  and  American  banner, 
yielded  between  45  and  50  bushels;  while  five  varieties,  Canadian  black, 
Virginia  winter,  white  Belgian,  black  Tartarian,  and  Texas  rust  proof, 
yielded  less  than  thirty-five  bushels  per  acre. 

The  average  yield  of  straw  per  acre  was  about  2,400  pounds;  the 
largest  3,200  pounds,  by  early  Dakota  white,  and  the  least  1,600  pounds, 
or  one-half  the  former  amount,  by  Texas  rust  proof. 

The  average  yield  was  1.84  pounds  of  straw  for  each  pound  of  grain. 
It  was  the  lowest  for  Pringle's  progress — 1.32  pounds;  nearly  the  same 
for  white  bonanza;  and  largest  for  black  Tartarian  —  2.83  pounds. 

The  oats  were  light,  averaging  but  30  pounds  per  bushel.  White 
wonder  oats  were  the  heaviest,  weighing  35.5  pounds  per  bushel;  the 
American  triumph  the  lightest,  weighing  but  26  pounds. 

Even  considerable  differences  in  yield  do  not  necessarily  indicate 
corresponding  differences  in  merit.  Three  plats  were  sown  with  welcome 
oats  under  conditions  similar,  as  far  as  possible.  The  yield  from  the 
three  plats  was  48.1,  43.8,  and  35.6  bushels  respectively,  a  difference  in 
yield  of  12.5  bushels  per  acre.  The  greatest  difference  in  yield  between 
any  two  varieties  sown  was  but  23.8  bushels  per  acre.  Possibly,  there- 
fore, half  the  difference  in  yield  of  the  several  varieties  was  due  to  circum- 
stances not  related  to  the  merit  of  the  varieties. 

Although  the  yield  of  individual  varieties,  where  the  differences  are 
not  large,  is  not  positive  indication  of  merit,  by  taking  the  average  of 
several  varieties  possessing  like  characteristics,  some  idea  may  be  ob- 
tained, as  far  as  one  year's  experience  goes,  as  to  the  qualities  most  desir- 
able in  a  variety  of  oats.  But  even  here  we  must  be  careful  of  our  con- 
clusions. Figures,  unless  properly  interpreted,  are  worse  than  worthless. 
For  example,  an  inspection  of  the  table  on  page  204,  will  show  that  nine 
medium  maturing  varieties  yielded  at  the  rate  of  44  bushels  per  acre;  six 
late  maturing  varieties  yielded  36.5  bushels,  while  four  very  late  varieties 
yielded  44.6  bushels  per  acre.  Now,  it  happens  that  the  six  late  maturing 
varieties  are  composed  of  four  black  varieties  and  one  dun  variety,  while 
in  the  medium  maturing  varieties  all  are  white,  and  in  the  very  late  varie- 


1889-]  EXPERIMENTS    WITH    OATS,    18^9.  203 

ties  three  of  the  four  are  white.  An  inspection  of  the  table  again  will 
show  that  twenty-five  white  varieties  yielded,  on  an  average,  6  bushels 
more  than  the  black  varieties  and  10  bushels  more  than  the  dun  varie- 
ties. Hence,  it  appears,  that  the  yield  was  related  to  the  color  rather 
than  the  date  of  ripening.  Further,  three  of  the  four  very  late  varie- 
ties are  not  only  white  but  have  closed  panicles.  The  table  shows 
that  eight  varieties  with  closed  panicles  yielded  about  4  bushels  more  than 
the  twenty-five  with  open  panicles.  Hence  the  increased  yield  was  due 
rather  to  the  fact  that  they  were  mostly  white  ^varieties  with  closed  pani- 
cles than  to  the  lateness  of  ripening.  At  least,  if  there  was  any  relation 
between  maturity  and  yield,  is  is  so  masked  beneath  the  other  character- 
istics as  not  to  be  determinable.  Other  less  striking  illustrations  might  be 
drawn,  but  enough  has  been  given  to  show  that  conclusions  must  be 
ventured  cautiously.  With  these  difficulties  clearly  before  the  reader, 
some  of  the  relationships  existing  between  certain  characteristics  of  the 
varieties  and  the  results  as  obtained  this  season  will  be  pointed  out. 

Date  of  Ripening.  The  extreme  difference  in  ripening  of  the  several 
varieties  was  but  twelve  days.  As  just  stated,  there  was  no  determinable 
relationship  between  the  date  of  ripening  and  the  yield  of  grain.  There 
was,  however,  a  somewhat  regular  increase  in  the  yield  of  straw  with  the 
lateness  of  ripening.  In  general,  the  weight  per  bushel  decreased.  The 
weight  per  bushel  was  32  pounds  in  the  extra  early  varieties,  decreas- 
ing to  27.5  pounds  in  the  late  varieties  and  increasing  again  to  nearly  30 
pounds  in  the  very  late  varieties.  It  should  be  noted  that  if  two  rust 
proof  varieties,  so-called,  which  are  not  adapted  to  this  climate  were 
omitted,  the  yield  of  the  two  remaining  extra  early  varieties  would  be  in- 
creased to  44.2  bushels  per  acre,  the  ratio  of  straw  to  grain  considerably 
decreased  and  the  weight  per  bushel  increased  to  34.5  pounds. 

Although  there  are  marked  exceptions,  the  earlier  varieties,  having, 
as  they  do,  a  smaller  proportion  of  straw,  generally  stood  somewhat  bet- 
ter at  time  of  harvesting.  Not  unfrequently  storms  occur  in  many 
localities  during  July,  which  the  earlier  ripening  varieties  miss  by  being 
already  in  shock,  but  which  cause  some  loss,  often  considerable,  and 
much  difficulty  in  harvesting  the  later  maturing  varieties.  May  it  not, 
therefore,  be  concluded  that,  as  grown  in  this  test,  the  earlier  maturing 
varieties  were,  all  things  considered,  the  better  ? 

Plumpness  of  berry.  The  number  of  varieties*  with  short,  plump 
berries  and  of  those  with  long,  slender  berries  was  about  equal  in  this 
test.  The  average  yield  of  the  former  was  about  two  bushels  more  grain 
and  100  pounds  less  straw  per  acre,  and  the  weight  per  bushel  was  three 
pounds  more. 

Here  again  the  result  is  affected  by  a  second  cause.  All  the  varieties 
with  short,  plump  berries,  are  white.  Eight  of  the  fifteen  with  long, 


*To  avoid  confusion  in  the  discussion  that  follows,  variety  is  sometimes  used  for  plat.     It  will  be  noted 
that  three  plats  were  sown  with  similar  seed. 


204 


BULLETIN    NO.   7. 


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889] 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    OATS,   1889. 


205 


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Pnngle's  progress  

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P»  to  f>  «*l  (*•. 

206  BULLETIN  NO.  7.  [November, 

slender  berries,  are  black.  The  seven  white  varieties  with  long,  slender 
berries  gave  an  average  yield  of  45.4  bushels  of  grain  with  2,550  pounds 
of  straw  per  acre.  The  weight  per  bushel  was  28.5  pounds.  Among  the 
white  varieties,  therefore,  those  with  long,  slender  berries  gave  a  larger 
yield  of  grain  and  straw  with  a  less  weight  per  bushel  than  those  with 
short,  plump  berries. 

Color.  The  white  varieties  gave  an  average  yield  of  43  bushels  per 
acre,  while  the  smaller  number  of  black  varieties  yielded  6  bushels  less, 
and  the  dun  varieties  yielded  10  bushels  less. 

As  heretofore  mentioned  the  dun  varieties  are  of  southern  origin  and 
are,  usually,  sown  in  the  fall,  and  hence  are  not  adapted  to  the  conditions 
of  oat  raising  in  this  state.  It  may  be  said,  therefore,  that  the  color  in 
itself  is  not  a  bad  quality,  but  an  indication  of  characteristics  that  are 
undesirable.  So  it  may  be  with  the  black  varieties.  Thus  much  is  true, 
however,  that  the  black  and  dun  colored  varieties  sold  by  the  leading 
seedsmen  of  the  United  States  did  not  equal  the  white  varieties,  in  the 
yield  of  grain  or  in  the  weight  per  bushel.  This  is  contrary,  no  doubt,  to 
the  opinion  of  many  farmers  based  upon  years  of  practice. 

Panicles.  Eight  varieties  with  closed  panicles  (sometimes  called  side 
oats),  yielded  44  bushels  of  grain  and  2,475  pounds  of  straw.  The 
varieties  with  open  panicles  yielded  about  4  bushels  of  grain  and  100 
pounds  of  straw  less  per  acre.  The  weight  per  bushel  was  slightly  in 
favor  of  the  varieties  with  open  panicles. 

If  the  white  varieties  alone  are  compared,  this  relation  will  not  be 
materially  changed,  except  that  the  comparative  yield  of  straw  will  be 
somewhat  increased  in  the  varieties  with  closed  panicles. 

Weight  per  Bushel.  Eight  varieties  weighing  32  or  more  pounds  per 
bushel  yielded  almost  exactly  the  same  as  nine  varieties  weighing  between 
30  and  32  pounds  per  bushel,  although  the  yield  of  straw  was  a  little 
greater  in  the  latter  division.  Sixteen  varieties  weighing  less  than  30 
pounds  per  bushel  yielded  two  bushels  less  of  grain  and  150  pounds  more 
straw  per  acre  than  the  seventeen  varieties  whose  weight  per  bushel  was  30 
or  more  pounds.  In  this  case,  therefore,  there  was  little  relation  between 
the  weight  per  bushel  and  the  yield. 

Weight  of  berries.  The  varieties  were  divided  according  to  the  size 
of  the  seed  sown  into  those  in  which  100  berries  weighed  3  or  more  grams; 
these  in  which  100  weighed  2^  to  3  grams;  and  those  which  weighed  less 
than  2^  grams.  The  middle  class  yielded  less  than  either  of  the  others; 
and  the  fourteen  varieties  in  which  100  berries  weighed  2^  or  more  grams 
yielded  less  by  1.7  bushels  than  those  varieties  in  which  100  berries 
weighed  less  than  2^  grams,  and  they  had  but  a  slightly  heavier  weight 
per  bushel.  The  relation,  if  any,  between  the  size  of  the  seed  and  the 
yield  was  very  slight. 


1889-]  EXPERIMENTS    WITH    OATS,   1889.  207 

Summary.  Giant  yellow  French,  early  Dakota  white,  improved 
American,  Japan,  white  bonanza,  and  American  banner  gave  the  largest 
yields  of  grain  in  the  order  named,  and  Canadian  black,  Virginia  winter, 
white  Belgian,  black  Tartarian,  and  Texas  rust  proof  gave  the  lowest. 

Although  there  was  no  direct  relation  between  the  yield  and  the 
date  of  ripening,  all  things  considered,  it  may  probably  be  concluded 
that  the  earlier  ripening  varieties  were  the  more  desirable. 

The  yield  was  not  appreciably  affected  by  the  length  and  plumpness 
of  the  berry. 

The  white  varieties  were  considerably  superior  in  yield  and  weight 
per  bushel  to  the  black  and  dun-colored  varieties. 

The  varieties  with  closed  panicles  yielded  somewhat  better  than  those 
with  open  panicles. 

Neither  the  weight  per  bushel  nor  the  size,  by  weight,  of  the  berries 
affected  appreciably  the  yield. 

QUALITY. 

The  quality  of  the  several  varieties,  as  indicated  by  the  ratio  of  the 
kernel  to  the  berry,  both  in  the  seed  sown  and  the  resulting  crop,  has 
been  the  subject  of  study,  and  is  shown  in  the  table  on  page  208.  There 
was  on  an  average  69.6  per  cent,  of  the  kernel  in  the  seed,  and  65.1  per 
cent,  in  the  resulting  crop,  a  decrease  of  4^  per  cent.  Inasmuch  as  all 
the  varieties,  except  three,  decreased  more  or  less,  this  decrease  probably 
indicates  that  the  conditions  under  which  the  oats  were  grown,  soil,  sea- 
son, attack  by  insect  enemies,  such  as  the  grain  plant  louse  {Aphis 
avenae),  etc.,  were  not  favorable  to  their  best  development.  It  may,  per- 
haps, be  reasonably  assumed  that  those  which  decreased  the  most  were 
the  farthest  removed  from  the  best  conditions  for  their  full  development. 

The  largest  percentage  of  kernel  of  any  variety  in  the  seed  sown 
was  78.1,  in  Canadian  black;  the  least  per  cent,  was  58.8,  in  new  Dakota 
gray,  a  difference  of  19.3  per  cent,  or  nearly  one-fifth. 

This  difference  is  of  greater  importance  than  appears  at  first  glance. 
No  one  will  deny  that  a  decrease  of  19.3  per  cent,  in  the  annual  yield  of 
oats  in  this  country  would  be  a  very  important  matter.  But  a  difference 
of  19.3  per  cent,  in  the  kernel  of  the  berries  of  oats  in  the  annual  crop 
of  the  United  States  is  an  even  more  important  consideration,  for  the 
value  of  kernel  alone  is  40  per  cent,  greater  than  that  of  whole  berry, 
hull  and  kernel  combined.  The  average  annual  yield  of  oats  in  the 
United  States  during  the  years  1880-1887,  inclusive,  has  been  about 
550,000,000  bushels*,  or  8.8  million  tons,  valued  at  about  thirty-two  cents 
bushel  or  twenty  dollars  a  ton.  Assuming  the  value  of  the  hulls  to  be  a 
$5  per  ton,  on  the  basis  of  65.1  per  cent,  of  kernel,  the  value  of  the 
kernel  becomes  $28  per  ton.  An  increase  or  decrease  of  the  kernel, 
therefore,  would  increase  or  decrease  the  value  of  the  crop  on  the  basis 
of  $23  instead  of  $20  per  ton.  On  this  basis  a  decrease  or  increase  of  19.3 

*J.  R.  Dodge,  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  1887,  p.  544. 


208 


BULLETIN    NO.   7. 


[November, 


Per  cent,  berries 
sprouting. 

OO   CO  N  t~-  LO  O   Q  LOOO    ON  ^  O   coX)   n  t-» 
OX)    ON  t""»  ON  O   O    ON  ON  ON  ON  0    ON  ON  ONOO 

ONI--OO          ON  O-OO 

Percent,  of  kernel 
in  berries. 

Decrease. 

LO         Nil         OO          LO  N    N  NO    w          N          n 

CO  •<!•  N    ^f  LO  n  NO 

T^-  <NI  t^  n  CO  ON  co  LONO   ^  «   "*00  N  NO  LO 

-               M                       * 

CO  t»  O    CONO    1^  n 

In  crop. 

LO               N    LO  I^»  LO  n   LO  LO               LO        £••» 

r~»  t~-»  LONO  LO  LOOO 

In  seed. 

1^,^,-!    -    ~.    -  i^        rot^N-   •-.         t^       oo               ~  *-.             VO   •«• 

O  tOOO   ^  fO  **   <^ro«vO  •*  r^-^OOC  "~» 

N  OO   LO  Tj-NO    n  OO 

l^-NO  NO    t>.t^t^NO 

'£ 
11 

«-.        U> 

.£? 
'C 

Decrease. 

(8SP;3;jrKS5-U}^5'ftS,S;<8=    N^fo^^S^L?;^ 

«               N,                       *                         #                                                                                                                    _, 

In  crop. 

n    CO  1-1    'J-OO  NOX!LONTfNCON-"ON 

ON  ONOO   roO   t-»00 

NNNN>-NNNNNNNNNNN         Nn"N-«NN 

In  seed. 

N^^-o^S-^^^^^^^^K^^ 

rf  —  t^.oO  LONO  CO 

NCONCONCONNNNNNNNNN 

N    N    N    N   N    N    N 

Weight  of  kernels. 

NO-"   —   COO  —   Nt^iocoONCOi-iOONO 

t^>  r^.  LONO  LO  LOX/ 
OO    O   LO  O    ON  ^NO 

VO  NO  NO  NO    l^NO  NONOVONOVONONONONONO          NONONO    I^NO  NO  NO 

2       Weight  of  bulls. 

&. 

LOTJ-NNO   ONO    ONO  LOO   t^r—O   COO   "*• 
1-1  r^t^NOOOXNO   N    'J'NO    ONUOOO   1-1   t^OO 

t^X)  O  LO  «  O  O 
i  QO  •<*•  ON  O  LOCO 

COCOCOCON  COCOCOCOCON  cococococo 

CO  COCO  N    CO  CO  CO 

o       Per  cent,  foreign 

£               mat'.er. 

a 

CO         Tj-ON^i-                NLOrj-X)                 « 
CM          (N)I-ILO               NN^-'S-                N 

ododdoooddddoodo 

N                 -    CO  •* 
ONNO    Tj-  N    LO  N 

d  d  d  d  o  d  o 

No.  berries  in  pure 
M                 seed. 

N    O    N    O    N    T}-  LOOO    CNl^Nt--—"«Tj-LO 
NO    CO  t^  n    CO  I""-"  LO  ON  LO  O    LO  n    LONO  OO    C^ 

vo  ••   LOOO  OO    •"  OO 
CO  O    O  NO  NO    N    CO 
•*  LO  LO  If  LO  Tj-  Tj- 

«       No.  berries  as  re- 
ceived. 

N    ON  N    ON  —    N   LOOO    ••   CO  O   LO  n    —    CO  LO 

Tj-  Tj-  LO  Tf-  LO  «t   •* 

Weight  of  kernels. 

O   COOO    ^  CO  —    ON  CO  ••  NO   n  t^^  ON  O  OO   LO 

N  OO   LO  *4-NO    •"  OO 

t-»NO  NO  t^  r-»  I-^NO 

£        Weight  of  hulls. 

•I 

ON  LO  •-<   LONO  OO    ONNO  00    N  OO    n    ONOO    n    CO 

r^  <i  •$•  LO  COOO  •* 

tNiNCONNNCONNCONCONNCOCO 

N    CO  CON    N    N    CO 

«       Per  cent,  foreign 
g                matter. 

V§- 

oooooooooooooooo 

CO  **   LO               ^ 
CNJ  LON         CON 

oooooooo 

2     No.  berries  in  pure 
M                 seed. 

if)  if)  O  ^-OO   O^  O  vO    Q*  ro  *^  "O  *O  *O  ^O  ^^ 
^•W   ^cs   ^-N  ^coro^'^'cOfOco^'^' 

Tf  COOO   O  LO  ro  — 

No.  berries  as  re- 
ceived. 

iH&lffMllH^S 

Tj-  COOO     O    LO  CO  "" 

1 

cd 

o     •     •  u-     •     • 

:|  i  i  ':  :.  i-3 

No.  of  plat. 

—   N  co  ^"  LONO  l^OO    ON  O   —   N  CO  ^"  LONO 

t^OO    ON  O    —    N    CO  •<*• 

.„  z 


1889] 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    OATS,   1889. 


209 


O    O~~ 
O  CO 


oo  rr>  Tj- 
N  06  >o 


00   m  1-1   rOOO     i         OOO 


0  0 


ON  to  N  ^  to 


MNOOO       "-i\ 


00     ••  tOOO 


10  •'t'O  «  t^O 


Q  \O   Q 
vO   O  00 


o'o'ddoodod 


fxOO         N 

o  d  d  o  d 


's  s  ^  : 

3  2  u     • 


"ssSrt—JjiiUiJi; 
V  M   M   g  48  .«•  .^H  .  — •  ._    _ 


3  - 


210  BULLETIN  NO.  7.  {November, 

per  cent,  of  kernel  would  decrease  or  increase  the  annual  value  of  the 
crop  during  the  past  ten  years,  approximately,  $39,000,000.  To  take  a 
less  extreme  case,  the  fifteen  varieties  in  which  there  was  70  per  cent,  of 
kernel  in  the  seed  yielded  in  the  crop  67.3  per  cent.  The  sixteen  varieties 
in  which  there  was  less  than  70  per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the  seed  yielded 
€3.1  of  kernel  in  the  crop.  This  would  make  a  difference  of  between 
•eight  and  nine  million  dollars  in  the  average  yield  of  the  crop  in  the 
United  States  during  the  past  ten  years,  a  difference  which  it  would  seem 
•might  be  controlled.  A  difference  of  19.3  per  cent,  in  the  kernel  would 
'make  a  difference  of  $70  in  the  value  of  a  thousand  bushel  of  oats  under 
Jthe  conditions  named. 

Although  an  inspection  will  show  marked  individual  exceptions,  it 
has  just  been  shown  that  there  was  a  difference  of  4.2  per  cent,  in  the 
crop  owing  to  whether  the  seed  contained  more  or  less  than  70  per  cent,  of 
kernel.  The  difference  of  kernel  in  the  seed  of  these  two  divisions  was  6 
per  cent.  In  other  words,  while  the  circumstances  under  which  the  crop 
was  grown,  as  season,  soil,  cultivation,  etc.,  affected  it  to  a  certain  extent, 
in  general  there  was  a  direct  relation  between  the  quality  of  the  seed 
sown  and  that  of  the  crop  produced.  Other  things  being  equal,  therefore,  it 
pays  better  to  sow  varieties  whose  berries  contain  a  large  percentage  of 
kernel. 

The  other  chief  consideration  is  yield.  The  fifteen  varieties  in  which 
the  seed  contained  70  or  more  per  cent,  of  kernel  yielded  44  bushels 
while  the  sixteen  varieties  containing  less  than  70  per  cent,  of  kernel 
yielded  less  than  39  bushels  per  acre,  the  ratio  of  straw  to-  grain  being 
about  the  same  in  both.  The  seed  of  the  better  quality  gave  an  appreci- 
ably better  yield.  As  usual,  there  are  some  individual  exceptions,  the 
most  striking  of  which  are  in  the  southern  varieties,  which  yielded  poorly 
for  reasons  already  explained.  In  no  case,  however,  was  the  yield  much 
above  the  average  where  the  seed  had  less  than  70  per  cent,  of  kernel. 

If  a  series  of  investigations  confirm  these  results;  viz.,  that  high 
quality  was  largely  reproduced  and  was  accompanied  by  larger  yields,  it 
will  be  important  to  know  by  what  characteristics  seed  may  be  known  to 
contain  a  high  percentage  of  kernel.  Is  it  by  the  plumpness,  size,  or 
color  of  berry,  the  weight  per  bushel,  date  of  ripening,  or  other  character- 
istics? 

Fifteen  varieties  with  long,  slender  berries  contained,  in  the  seed 
sown,  1.3  per  cent,  and  in  the  crop  3.5  per  cent,  more  kernel  than  the 
sixteen  varieties  with  short  plump  berries.  This  is  a  slight  advantage  in 
favor  of  the  long,  slender  berries  in  the  seed  sown  and  a  more  decided 
advantage  in  the  crop. 

It  should  be  explained  that  this  division  into  short,  plump  berries, 
and  long,  slender  ones,  as  in  all  such  classifications,  is  somewhat  arbi- 
trary, it  being  in  some  cases  difficult  to  decide  in  which  division  to  place 
a  variety.  The  classification  was  made,  however,  without  any  knowledge 
of  what  the  results  would  lead  to  and  is,  therefore,  entirely  free  from  bias. 


.]  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  OATS,  1889.  211 

Referring  again  to  the  table  on  page  208,  it  will  be  seen  that  with 
the  seven  varieties  in  which  the  weight  per  bushel  was  32  or  more  pounds, 
the  per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the  crop  was  between  three  and  four  per  cent. 
lower  than  in  those  in  which  the  weight  was  less  than  32  pounds  per  bushel; 
while  there  was  no  appreciable  difference  in  this  respect  between  the 
nine  varieties  in  which  the  weight  per  bushel  was  between  30  and  32 
pounds  per  bushel,  and  the  sixteen  varieties  in  which  the  weight  per 
bushel  was  less  than  thirty  pounds. 

A  similar  relationship  exists  between  the  weight  of  the  berries  in  the 
seed  and  the  per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the  crop.  The  three  varieties  having 
remarkably  large  berries  contained  in  the  crop  more  than  three  per  cent, 
less  kernel  than  those  varieties  with  lighter  berries,  while  there  was  but  a 
slight  difference  between  those  in  which  100  berries  weighed  between  2^ 
and  3  grams,  and  those  that  weighed  less  than  2^  grams  per  100  berries. 
So  far  as  there  was  any  difference,  the  varieties  having  the  least  weight 
per  bushel  and  the  lightest  berries  had  the  largest  per  cent,  of  kernel.  This 
is  in  accordance  with  the  fact  that  the  varieties  with  long,  slender  berries 
contained  the  larger  per  cent,  of  kernel;  for  this  class  had  the  smaller 
weight  per  bushel  and  the  lighter  berries. 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  the  seed  of  the  heavy  berries,  the  per  cent, 
of  kernel  was  larger  than  that  of  the  lighter  berries;  thit  is,  when 
divided  according  to  weight,  the  high  per  cent,  of  kernel  was  not  repro- 
duced, while  it  has  been  heretofore  shown  that  when  the  varieties  were 
divided  strictly  according  to  quality  without,  regard  to  the  weight  of  the 
berries,  high  quality  was  reproduced.  This  may  seem  like  a  contradic- 
tion. May  it  not  rather  be  assumed  in  explanation  that  the  varieties 
with  especially  heavy  berries  were  unsuited  for  the  conditions  under 
which  they  were  grown,  and  hence,  failed  to  reach  their  normal  develop- 
ment, and  so  contained  a  less  per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the  resulting  crop  ? 
In  support  of  this  explanation,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  three  vari- 
eties with  very  heavy  berries  decreased  in  weight  between  the  seed  and 
the  crop  nearly  35  per  cent.,  the  eleven  varieties  with  medium  heavy 
berries  decreased  18  per  cent.,  and  the  seventeen  varieties  with  light  ber- 
ries but  about  8  per  cent. 

If  it  is  true  that  those  varieties  with  heavy  berries  were  particularly 
unadapted  to  the  circumstances  under  which  they  were  grown,  it  sup- 
ports the  proposition  that  seed  containing  a  high  per  cent,  of  kernel,  will 
produce  a  crop  of  similar  quality;  for  if  those  varieties  were  omitted 
from  the  division  containing  berries  with  more  than  70  per  cent  of  kernel 
in  the  seed.  There  was  a  decrease  of  n  per  cent,  of  kernel  between  the 
seed  crop  of  the  three  varieties  mentioned,  while  in  the  twelve  remaining 
varieties  of  this  division  the  decrease  was  but  4^  per  cent. 

When  classified  as  to  color  the  dun  varieties  stand  first,  the  white 
varieties  second,  and  the  black  varieties  last.  The  difference  between  the 
first  two  is  not  great  but  is  appreciable,  while  between  the  last  two  the 
difference  is  slight. 


212  BULLETIN  NO.  "j .  \_November, 

In  the  seed  there  was  no  material  difference  between  the  quality  of 
the  varieties  with  open  and  closed  panicles,  while  in  the  resulting  crop 
it  was  slightly  in  favor  of  the  closed  panicles. 

There  appears  to  be  no  general  relation  between  the  per  cent,  of 
kernel  in  the  berry  and  the  date  of  ripening;  although,  in  general,  the 
medium  to  very  late  maturing  varieties  were  of  better  quality  than  the 
early  to  extra  early  varieties. 

GENERAL  SUMMARY. 

1.  In  1888,  the  largest  yield  was  produced  when  the  two  and  one-half 
bushels  per  acre  was  sown;  in   1889,  when  three  and  one-half  bushels 
was  sown.     Both  years  considered  the  yield  was  related  to  the  quantity 
of  seed  sown  from  most  to  least  as  follows:     Three  and  one-half,  four, 
three,  two  and  one-half,  two,  one  and  one-half,  and  one. 

2.  A  medium  loose  seed-bed  gave  a  larger  yield  in  both  seasons  than 
a  compact  or  very  loose  seed-bed. 

3.  Almost  without  exception,  the  earlier  the  seeding  the  larger  the 
yield  and  the  greater  the  weight  per  bushel.     Oats  sown  March  14,  1889, 
yielded  one-half  more  than  those  sown  April  4th,  and  nearly  twice  as  much 
as  those  sown  April  i8th. 

4.  Between  one  and  four  inches  in  depth,  the  differences  in  yield  do 
not  indicate  with  certainty  that  the  depth  of  sowing  affected  the  results. 

5.  In  many  cases  varieties  of  oats  under   distinct  names  resemble 
each  other  so  closely  as  to  be  practically  identical. 

6.  Thirty-three  plats,  including  varieties  under  30  names,  gave  the 
rather  low  average  of  41  bushels  per  acre.     The  largest  yield  was  54  and 
the  least  30  bushels  per  acre. 

7.  There  was  an  average  of  somewhat  less  than  two  pounds  (1.84 
Ib.)   of  straw  for  each  pound  of  grain.     The  variation  in  the  yield  of 
straw  was  a  little  less  than  that  of  the  grain. 

8.  The  following  varieties  gave  the  largest  yields,  in  the  order  named: 
Giant  yellow  French,  early-Dakota  white,  improved  American,  Japan, 
white  bonanza,  and  American  banner;  while   Canadian   black,  Virginia 
winter,  white  Belgian,  black  Tartarian,  and  Texas  rust  proof  gave  the 
poorest  yields. 

9.  All  things  considered,  it  may  probably  be   fairly  concluded  that 
the  earlier  ripening  varieties  were  the  more  desirable. 

10.  Neither  the  length,  plumpness,  or  weight  of  berry,  nor  the  weight 
per  bushel  appreciably  influenced  the  yield. 

11.  The   white   varieties   were   considerably  superior   in   yield   and 
weight  per  bushel  to  the  black  and  dun-colored  varieties. 

12.  The  varieties  with  closed  panicles  yielded  somewhat  better  than 
those  with  open  panicles. 

13.  The  average  per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the  berries  as  sown  was  69.6  per 
cent,  and  65.1  per  cent,  in  the  crop.    The  largest  individual  difference  be- 
tween two  varieties  was  19  3  per  cent,  in  the  seed  and  12.7  in  the  crop. 


1889.]  EXPERIMENTS    WITH    OATS,   1889.  213 

This  extreme  difference  between  two  varieties  would  make  a  difference  of 
$39,000,000  if  applied  to  the  annual  crop  of  the  United  States.  Differ- 
ences, apparently  not  beyond  the  control  of  the  farmer,  would  make  a 
difference  of  eight  to  nine  millions  in  the  annual  value  of  the  crop. 

14.  Those  varieties  which  contained  the  higher  per  cent,  of  kernel  in 
the  berry  of  the  seed  sown,  contained,  on  an  average,  the  higher  per  cent, 
in  the  crop  and  gave  the  larger  yields. 

15.  On  the  whole,  it  is  doubtful  whether  there  was  any  relation  be- 
tweeen  the  per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the  berry  and  the  weight  per  bushel,  the 
color,  weight,  or  plumpness  of  the  berry.     If  any  such  relation  existed, 
those  varieties  with  long,  slender  berries,  with  lighter  berries,  and  with  the 
less  weight  per  bushel  yielded  the  highest  per  cent,  of  kernel. 

1 6.  While  it  appears  from  the  data  obtained  that  it  is  especially 
desirable  to  sow  varieties  of  oats  whose  berries  contain  a  large  per  cent. 
of  kernel,  this  quality,  with  our  present  knowledge,  can  only  be  known 
by  direct  determination. 

17.  The  twenty-nine  varieties  of  oats  procured  by  the  Station  for 
seed   from  the  leading  seedsmen  of  the  United  States  were  practically 
free  from  foreign  seeds  and  other  impurities. 

1 8.  On  an  average,  93  per  cent,  of  the  berries  sprouted.     In  fifteen 
varieties  95  or  more  per  cent,  sprouted,  while  in  three  varieties  less  than 
80  per  cent,  sprouted. 

19.  If  future  investigation  confirms  the  experiments  just  recorded, 
the  practical  lesson  will  be  to  sow  as  early  as  practicable,  in  a  medium 
loose  seed-bed;  to  cover  well,  but  not  necessarily  deep;  to  use  two  and 
one-half  to  three  and  one-half  bushels  of  seed  per  acre;  to  ascertain  the 
power  of  sprouting  of  the  seed,  and,  if  low  and  it  is  necessary  to  sow  it, 
to  sow  proportionately  more;  to  sow  white  varieties  which  have  been  found 
through  a  series  of  years  to  produce  a  good  yield  with  a  high  percentage 

of  kernel  to  berry. 

THOMAS   F.  HUNT,  B.  S., 

Assistant  Agriculturist. 


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